T here is at least one gasoline station in the United States which sells regular grade gasoline for $1.98 per gallon; and the price could even be lower than that by the time you read this article.
According to OklahomaGasPrices.com — which is an Internet web site of GasBuddy — the gasoline station is located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; while two other gasoline stations are selling regular grade fuel at $1.99 per gallon.
One of my favorite features of GasBuddy.com is the gas price heat map, which gives a visual indicator of where the cheapest prices for gasoline are located in the United States. Simply zoom in for a more accurate map — right on down to the gasoline stations at a specific intersection. There is a version of the gas price heat map for Canada as well.
Fuel prices have been plummeting for the last several weeks, with the national average price of gas posted the largest July decline in six years. “Refineries are running at full tilt and there is more than enough gasoline in the market, which has helped bring down prices despite multiple overseas conflicts”, according to Avery Ash, who is a spokesman for the American Automobile Association.
Although fuel prices have dropped — as of the writing of this article, the price of crude oil is at $66.81 per barrel — airlines have generally not lowered airfares. Why should they? Airlines are operating flights with full airplanes chiefly because of consolidation in commercial aviation and the reduction of flights in general over the past several years.
Think about it: if you operated a business, would you lower prices even though demand is high for your product or service?
Despite the lower prices for gasoline, efforts should be maintained to develop alternate fuels to help diversify our dependency on energy. I like the idea of vehicles powered solely by electricity — but there are several problems with that, including the price of replacing a battery; the distance an electric vehicle can travel before it runs out of fuel; the amount of time it takes to refuel the vehicle; and whether or not electric cars are truly friendly to the environment.
What I meant by that last factor is that I am uncertain about the energy and methods used to manufacture electric vehicles; as well as what happens to batteries once disposed…
…but ideally, I would like to have an electric car whose source of energy is solar power and do away with gasoline stations altogether. Although it is possible, the technologies involved still need to be improved.
In the meantime, enjoy the cheaper fuel while it is still less expensive — and hopefully for our wallets, prices will continue to decrease…
