Expert Says Middle East Woes Will Not Affect Local Gas Prices

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - KGVO received some good news about gas prices this winter from Patrick DeHaan, an oil industry analyst from GasBuddy.com.

DeHaan said that despite the current turmoil between Israel and Hamas, the price of gas probably won’t see any increase in Montana over the winter.

Good News for Drivers about Gas Prices this Winter

“From the perspective of gasoline prices, there's not really anything that will cause an imminent jump in the price of gasoline and that's because of the seasonality, which is the switch back to cheaper winter gasoline and the fact that demand for gasoline is falling into the cooler months is overpowering any slight rise in the price of oil,” began DeHaan. “The average gas price in Montana is down about four cents a gallon in the last week. The average price is about $3.90 a gallon. We will likely continue to see gas prices fall for the next few weeks by as much as another 10 to 25 cents a gallon.”

Despite the tightening tensions in the Middle East, DeHaan said the price of gas in Missoula and throughout Montana will continue to moderate.

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DeHaan says the Middle East Situation won't Affect the Price of Gas

“If Iran for example, gets more active in the Middle East, and Iran is a major oil producer, that could certainly destabilize markets and cause prices to decline a little bit slower or by less significant amounts, but I don't think we're at a point yet, where any of the events in the Middle East will drive prices up.”

However, DeHaan did not have such a rosy forecast for diesel prices, as much of what we consume comes to Missoula in trucks fueled by diesel.

The Price of Diesel However will Probably Continue to Rise

“As the price of diesel has remained fairly elevated, in fact, the cheapest price for diesel today is still over the $4 per gallon mark with some stations offering prices of $4.19 to $4.29 per gallon,” he said. “Some stations are still much higher at $4.89. As we get into the winter months, the colder months, we do see diesel and heating oil, which is the same as diesel, demand going up and that will likely prevent diesel prices from falling as significantly as gasoline. In fact, typically, gas prices decline in the fall and diesel heads higher in the fall and winter because of that heating oil consumption that happens.”

DeHaan went so far as to say there is a possibility that gas prices will fall to just over $3.00 per gallon over the winter.