- The GasBuddy app updates the national average price every five minutes, and with few exceptions, the number just keeps dropping.
- The first station in the U.S. to sell a gallon for 99 cents this year is in Kentucky, but it might be joined by hundreds more soon.
- As of Friday afternoon, AAA reported an average gas price of $2.17.
On top of everything else the world is dealing with due to the coronavirus pandemic, things are different these days at gas stations across the United States as the supply of oil rises and demand for gasoline drops. AAA found that two-thirds of all states saw average gas prices drop by double digits in the past week, which has dropped the national average price to $2.17 late Friday. Eleven U.S. states currently have a gas price average that's $2 a gallon or lower.
As low as that feels today, those prices might seem high in the coming weeks. Patrick De Haan, an analyst for GasBuddy, an app and website that knows a thing or two about gas prices, is now saying that he will not be surprised to see gas at just 99 cents a gallon in the Great Lakes region in the near future. The reason? Wholesale gas prices in Chicago have dropped to 45 cents per gallon. "A month ago, a truckload of gasoline in Chicago may have cost $13,000. Same truckload today? $4640," he said via Twitter. De Haan said he also expects the average price in California to drop by a dollar a gallon in the coming weeks.
One BP station in Kentucky is getting ahead of the low-price curve, offering regular unleaded gas for 99 cents a gallon. The station sold out but is expecting more to be delivered and says it will keep selling gas at this price "for as long as we can," according to local news reports.