Average gas prices fall under $3 per gallon in Minnesota

FRIDLEY, Minn. — Minnesota’s average gas prices have dropped to $2.95 per gallon, according to AAA. That’s cheaper than the nationwide average, but overall prices are at their lowest levels across the country in more than three years.
Minnesota is one of 28 states under $3 per gallon, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, which tracks fuel prices. 
“While the election has come and gone, gas prices have stayed the course, with the national average price of gasoline declining for a fourth consecutive week as seasonal demand weakens and Americans begin to take refuge from falling temperatures,” he said in a news release. 
Akshay Rao, a professor at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management who has tracked gas prices for 40 years, said the story through the decades has remained pretty much the same: there are times of the year when it’s more expensive than others — like spring and summer — due to an uptick in demand. 
Changes driving additional fluctuations have been the war in Ukraine and uncertainty in the Middle East with the war in Gaza. 
“The past few years, we’ve had a couple of other reasons for some enhanced variability in gas prices, typically in the upward direction, because of the war in Ukraine and the uncertainty in the Middle East, but that’s been compensated for by a fair amount of production here in the United States,” he said. “So we are now the largest producer and exporter of crude oil on the planet, and as a result, we’re doing quite well.”
The national average is down 16.7 cents compared to a month ago and is 32.3 cents per gallon cheaper than it was a year ago, GasBuddy estimates. For drivers, the price plunge at the pump is welcome news. 
Nathan Phillips, a 17-year-old at Fridley High School, said he will be more likely to use his car now that gas is less expensive. He remembers when it was much higher.
“It was $3.49, and [now] it’s dropped to $2.84 and that’s extra money in my pocket at the end of the day,” Phillips said. “I’m playing a sport right now so having a job is kind of tough so having that little extra cash — I mean that goes a long way.”
Four Corners Gas and Convenience in Fridley had some of the cheapest gas in the area Monday night. Yasir Abuhaleigah, its owner, said he tries to keep prices as low as possible to give customers a break on a key necessity.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen it under $3, but as soon as I got that deal, I passed it along to my customers,” he said.
Wisconsin’s average is lower than Minnesota’s at $2.82. Gas is at its highest in places like California and Hawaii, which are more than $4 per gallon and 35 to 45 cents cheaper in Texas and Oklahoma, GasBuddy found.
Will these prices last? Rao said it’s impossible to know for sure.
“My crystal ball is broken. It’s in the shop. But if I was to make a wild guess, these prices will last typically until the spring, when again, demand will increase as people get done with the school year and begin planning their summer trips and so on and so forth,” Rao said. “So this is a pattern that you can see year in year out. The more, I suspect, interesting question is, by how much? What is the calibration of this? And that’s where I’m missing my crystal ball.”