Prices at gas pump plunge below $2 a gallon

Published 10:55 pm Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Three Port Arthur gas stations slipped below the $2-a-gallon benchmark Wednesday for a gallon of regular unleaded, according to reports from consumer website GasBuddy.com.

Murphy USA by Walmart on Memorial offered the low price of $1.96 a gallon Wednesday morning, with H-E-B on Twin City right behind at $1.97 and Fuel Depot on Twin City at $1.99. Some of those prices dropped as the day progressed.

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

Those local prices reflected recent price plunges that included a drop of 6.6 cents per gallon last week in Texas.

GasBuddy reported the average price for a gallon of regular at $2.26 a gallon Sunday, according to the website’s tracking of prices at 13,114 gas outlets in the state.

That drop in price compared with the national average decrease of 7.8 cents a gallon and an average national price of $2.53.

The low price in Texas on Wednesday morning was found at Buc-ee’s in Denton, which priced a gallon of regular at $1.69. That was a full dime cheaper than the next lowest price of $1.79 found at four Texas gas stations in Forth Worth, Saginaw, Blue Mount and Denton.

The low average price in a Texas county was found in Grayson County at

1.987 per gallon. Gray County was also below $2 gallon, on average. The average price in Jefferson County was $2.23.

“The $1.99 club has seen its membership swell in the last week with the number of states with stations priced at that level or lower spiking to 18. Texas, New York, Missouri, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Michigan, Virginia, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio, Tennessee and Illinois all have at least one station at $1.99 or less, and the good news is it won’t end there,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.

“Oil prices have seen another weekly rout, with WTI crude oil shedding over $6 per barrel or some 14 percent to close the week at a mere $50 per barrel. While many may be a skeptic of the White House taking some credit, the Trump administration’s reluctance to punish Saudi Arabia for its role in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi is likely leading Saudi Arabia to push against large cuts in crude oil production, fearing potential fallout from Trump. In the week ahead, motorists in most states will likely see further drops, saving the country $125 million a day vs. prices in early October.”