Montana Gas Prices Drop After a Month of Increases

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Montana gas prices have finally declined after four straight weeks of increases. Patrick De Haan is the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy and he provided the current numbers.  

“Average gasoline prices in Montana have fallen 1.7 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.52 per gallon today,” De Haan said. “Prices in Montana are 11.8 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand 20.9 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.”                     

As of Monday afternoon, many stations in Missoula still had their prices set to around $3.57 per gallon. 

According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Montana was priced at $3.31 per gallon yesterday while the most expensive was $3.99 per gallon.                      

Montana is currently ranked 15th 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 has fallen 1.9 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.47 per gallon today,” De Haan said. “The national average is up 3.5 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 9.9 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 4.0 cents in the last week and stands at $3.79 per gallon.”                  

READ MORE: Montana Gas Prices Continue to Rise, More Increases Are Expected

According to De Haan, most of the country has seen a reprieve from rising gasoline prices, thanks to weaker-than-expected gasoline demand, building supplies, and a quiet period in the tropics. 

“While a good portion of the nation saw average gas prices decline, severe weather completely knocked out power to a major refinery outside Chicago early last week, immediately impacting gasoline supplies to Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan, and pushing prices up considerably,” De Haan said. “We've often said how critical refineries are, and with a long power outage, we're seeing the impact very quickly, but relief will eventually arrive. For now, as we approach the end of summer vacations, I'm hopeful gas prices will continue to edge slightly lower in the week ahead."