February starts with the national gasoline average below $1.80
Monday February 1, 2016
The month of February kicked off Monday with gasoline costs in the Houston area averaging less than $1.60 a gallon and, nationwide, under $1.80 per gallon.
The Houston region and Texas overall averaged $1.58 a gallon on Monday — it's lowest point since January 2009 — and $1.79 a gallon nationally, according to GasBuddy's daily survey data. The price fell by 2.4 cents in the last week in Houston and by about 2.6 cents in the U.S. overall. The national average is down 20 cents just in the last month.
Gasoline prices may continue to drop some this month but then begin to increase in a few weeks once U.S. refiners begin maintenance work to switch over to more expensive summer-blend fuels. Gasoline prices have continued to drop in the wake of lower oil prices because crude is the feedstock for refineries.
Refiners have already begun some winter maintenance, and while supply of winter gasoline is abnormally high, once that inventory is liquidated, I fully expect gasoline prices to march higher,†said Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst, in a prepared statement.
As for the new month specifically, Monday marked the cheapest gasoline in a February since 2004. Oklahoma has the lowest-cost gasoline nationwide at $1.46 a gallon, according to GasBuddy, while Hawaii is the priciest at $2.63 per gallon.
In the Houston area, gasoline is as cheap as $1.34 a gallon at some service stations in North Houston and Pasadena, and as pricey as $2.59 per gallon at a Shell station just off of Interstate 10 at Shepherd Drive.