What To Expect From Montana's Gas Prices Before Thanksgiving

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Average gas prices in Montana have increased in 25 out of 47 weeks. After dropping eight weeks in a row, prices didn’t move last week. Patrick De Haan is the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, and he provided the current numbers for this week.

“Average gasoline prices in Montana have fallen 0.3 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.99 per gallon today,” De Haan said. “Prices in Montana are 4.4 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand 6.2 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.”

As of Monday morning, most stations in Missoula still had their prices set to $2.99 per gallon.

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According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Montana was priced at $2.79 per gallon yesterday, while the most expensive was $3.49 per gallon.

Montana is currently ranked 25th in the U.S. when it comes to the average price of gas, which is one spot higher than last week.

"The national average price of gasoline is unchanged in the last week, averaging $3.03 per gallon today,” De Haan said. “The national average is down 2.0 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 2.5 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has increased 0.8 cents compared to a week ago and stands at $3.78 per gallon.”

Ahead of the peak of Thanksgiving travel, De Haan said the national average has remained relatively steady, holding close to where it's been for the last few weeks.

“With refinery maintenance wrapping up, we’re likely to see more relief soon, particularly in the Great Lakes and West Coast regions,” De Haan said. “While Washington and Oregon may still see issues related to the Olympic pipeline shutdown, the broader outlook is promising, especially with oil prices dipping below $60 per barrel. Many states could begin to see further declines in the weeks ahead, just in time for the holidays.”

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

Gallery Credit: Sophia Crisafulli