Gas Prices Down Across The Twin Cities
HOPKINS, Minn. (WCCO) -- Just in time for the holiday shopping season, there's some relief at the pump.
"You notice a difference when you got $2.25 here and $2.50 somewhere else, that stuff starts to add up on you," Mike Brown, of Hopkins, said.
The average price for a gallon of unleaded in the Twin Cities is hovering right around $2.40. That's down 30 cents from last month's average.
"We have a lake home up in Wisconsin and we go up every week, so it makes a big difference," Bill Beard, of Minneapolis, said.
Experts say a big reason behind the plunge is a drop in the price of crude oil.
"This is a story about the 25 percent drop in the price of oil, which has opened up the door for gas prices to fall across the entire state for the last 8 to 10 weeks," GasBuddy's Patrick DeHaan said.
A barrel going for $76 at the beginning of October is now just $51.
Another factor could be President Trump, who issued waivers last month to allow countries that buy crude oil from Iran to continue doing so.
"That was a surprise to the market effectively allowing that crude oil to still flow out of Iran," DeHaan said.
A spike may come sooner rather than later. An annual meeting of OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, will happen later this week in Vienna, and the price of crude oil is set to be a big topic of conversation.
"Many, including myself included, expect that OPEC will move to cut oil production and of course that will probably send prices higher," DeHaan said.
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