The final month of the summer driving season will begin soon and average gas prices have been on cruise control recently. Patrick DeHaan is the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy and he says prices in Montana are starting to decline.

“Montana’s average is down about three cents a gallon in the last week,” DeHaan said. “The statewide average is now at about $2.78 per gallon. Missoula prices were virtually unchanged from a week ago. They are currently holding at about $2.85 per gallon. Missoula prices are up about five cents from where they were a month ago, but they are still down 13 cents from where they were a year ago.”

According to DeHaan, the national average price of gas has fallen for the second straight week.

“The national average is down to about $2.72 and that is a three cent drop from a week ago,” DeHaan said. “A lot of the reason for this slow decline continues to be the price of oil, which has slowly dropped over the last couple of weeks after it hit $60. Prices are slightly up today to $57.23 a barrel, but most states have seen prices go down in the last week.”

Missoula gas prices are still about 13 cents higher than the national average. In an effort to close that gap, DeHaan says prices in Missoula should drop over the next few weeks.

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