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Lowest gas in Texas no longer in Alpine
Avalanche staff
For a few weeks in November, because of an old-school gas war between Town & Country and Uncle’s convenience stores, Alpine’s gasoline prices were among the lowest — if not the lowest — in Texas.
Over the Thanksgiving holidays, you could buy a gallon of regular gasoline in Alpine for $1.64.
With the arrival of Christmas and now New Year’s, that’s still the going rate in Alpine. However, the rest of the state has caught up and passed us.
As of Tuesday, Dec. 30, the price of a gallon of regular hovered between $1.45 and $1.55 a gallon, according to Texas AAA. In Alpine, we found a low of $1.60 but most stations were holding at $1.64; a few even remained in the buck-seventies.
The nationwide average retail price of self-serve regular gasoline has remained very stable — at or near $1.66 per gallon for the past nine days.
AAA analysts said the prices may go a bit lower in January and February.
Much depends on whether oil prices stay at or near the low $40 per barrel range, or firm up closer to $50 per barrel. A strengthening in oil prices would signal that gasoline prices have definitely neared the bottom for the foreseeable future. An oil price that stays near $40 per barrel or below means the price of gasoline could fall another 10 to 15 cents to about $1.55 per gallon in early 2009, AAA believes.
If the national average retail price does drop by this amount, AAA does not believe prices will fall much further given current circumstances. Refineries have already reduced output — especially on the West Coast — and they will be looking to trim inventories even further during the cold weather months regardless of where the oil price goes. This is because most of the other fixed costs in producing, distributing and selling gasoline do not go away as the price of oil falls.
This fact, and the need to maintain profitable gasoline sales at the corner gas station, should keep winter prices well above the $1-per-gallon price that some reporters keep asking about.
Texas average gasoline prices
Regular Diesel
Current Avg. 1.482 2.312
Month ago 1.716 2.668
(1) July 17, 2008 3.985 4.775
Year ago 2.908 3.326
Started 2008 at about 2.90; ending about 1.45 to 1.50
State by state averages
State Reg Mid Prem Diesel
Missouri $1.419 $1.477 $1.563 $2.188
Wyoming $1.453 $1.515 $1.614 $2.295
Utah $1.463 $1.543 $1.610 $2.299
South Carolina $1.479 $1.572 $1.648 $2.332
Texas $1.482 $1.568 $1.624 $2.312
Arkansas $1.482 $1.563 $1.662 $2.348
Montana $1.483 $1.546 $1.620 $2.288
Tennessee $1.487 $1.574 $1.649 $2.377
Mississippi $1.494 $1.575 $1.646 $2.234
New Jersey $1.496 $1.604 $1.665 $2.454
Oklahoma $1.504 $1.556 $1.642 $2.210
Alabama $1.524 $1.629 $1.677 $2.384
Idaho $1.527 $1.612 $1.656 $2.403
Virginia $1.531 $1.607 $1.668 $2.430
Kansas $1.531 $1.572 $1.633 $2.304
Georgia $1.535 $1.650 $1.724 $2.396
Louisiana $1.537 $1.638 $1.715 $2.371
Indiana $1.543 $1.660 $1.707 $2.477
Kentucky $1.548 $1.660 $1.736 $2.351
Colorado $1.549 $1.657 $1.731 $2.411
Delaware $1.557 $1.654 $1.727 $2.452
Ohio $1.570 $1.674 $1.741 $2.500
Michigan $1.587 $1.681 $1.749 $2.475
North Carolina $1.588 $1.685 $1.759 $2.456
Arizona $1.591 $1.659 $1.755 $2.227
Minnesota $1.598 $1.662 $1.705 $2.429
Maryland $1.598 $1.700 $1.743 $2.449
New Mexico $1.618 $1.723 $1.798 $2.308
New Hampshire $1.622 $1.757 $1.820 $2.474
Iowa $1.628 $1.714 $1.796 $2.357
Massachusetts $1.639 $1.762 $1.830 $2.606
South Dakota $1.644 $1.750 $1.822 $2.443
Florida $1.658 $1.796 $1.829 $2.475
Nebraska $1.673 $1.710 $1.758 $2.410
Rhode Island $1.675 $1.782 $1.841 $2.634
Illinois $1.688 $1.816 $1.873 $2.552
Vermont $1.688 $1.816 $1.895 $2.697
North Dakota $1.691 $1.750 $1.812 $2.756
Pennsylvania $1.697 $1.789 $1.868 $2.615
Wisconsin $1.705 $1.771 $1.852 $2.487
Maine $1.723 $1.859 $1.911 $2.672
West Virginia $1.724 $1.802 $1.893 $2.600
Oregon $1.738 $1.834 $1.861 $2.459
Connecticut $1.752 $1.901 $1.951 $2.800
Dist. of Columbia $1.771 $1.886 $1.942 $2.766
Washington $1.798 $1.862 $1.955 $2.513
Nevada $1.785 $1.881 $1.950 $2.323
California $1.832 $1.950 $1.982 $2.425
New York $1.852 $1.981 $2.023 $2.884
Hawaii $2.332 $2.466 $2.512 $3.972
Alaska $2.518 $2.665 $2.817 $3.553
Texas Metro Areas
Reg Diesel
Fort Worth 1.447 2.343
Corpus Christi 1.450 2.476
Houston 1.452 2.312
San Antonio 1.462 2.344
Amarillo 1.470 2.266
Dallas 1.476 2.351
Austin 1.480 2.288
Galveston 1.486 2.356
Texarkana 1.489 2.252
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