Montana Gas Prices Much Higher Than National Average

Today the average national gas price dipped to a six year low, tying a low hit back in 2008. Petroleum Analyst Will Spear said Montana has a lot of catching up to do if it wants to see the prices most of the country is already experiencing.

"The national average right now is $2.03 with Montana trying to catch up at $2.22," Spear said. "While the U.S. only fell about one cent week on week, Montana was down almost seven cents trying to catch up to that national average."

Although Montana prices are dropping, Spear said it is hard to figure out why prices here are so much higher than even neighboring states like Idaho.

"There really hasn't been any fundamentals to back up the higher prices in Montana, so these prices aren't coming down as a result," Spear said. "We've been seeing the price of crude fall even further due to the OPEC meeting on Friday, so right now, crude oil prices have fallen below the $40 per barrel range."

There is a bright side for Montana. Gas prices here are still 10 cents cheaper than last month and a full sixty cents cheaper than last year.