Montana Gas Prices Finally Drop, But Only by One Tenth of a Cent

Montana began to see a tiny bit of relief at the fuel pump over the first week of June. The down tick, however slight, is the first week-long decline in months.

"Gas prices in the past week have decreased, finally, ever so slightly," said GasBuddy.com Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan. "It ended by shedding just one tenth of a penny, falling close to $3.62 a gallon. We probably will see a similar week this week, with little change in average gasoline prices."

Although slight, last weeks decline is a tradition in the month of June.

"Generally, June is the time of year when demand has not increased significantly; kids are still in school for the first part of June, a lot of vacations occur more in July and August," DeHaan said. "And, through the month of June, refineries are able to come back from maintenance and boost production of gasoline adding to the supply and putting downward pressure on prices."

Montana's fuel prices are roughly 12 cents cheaper than they were at the same time last year. However, they are up nearly 24 cents from the first week of May.

Although Montana saw some price declines, the national average went up by about seven cents from the same week in May and currently stands at about eight cents more  than the same time a year ago.

"While the national average has seen little change in the last week, prices in the Great Lakes have skyrocketed. In many cities in that region, new all time record high prices have been set," DeHaan said. "In areas that have featured skyrocketing gasoline prices amidst stable oil prices, refineries continue to be beset with shutdowns, maintenance, and other problems that have hampered production of gasoline and other products, leading to much higher prices. While these situations are difficult for motorists to digest, relief is on the way and will likely arrive in a few weeks."