Gas has fallen to $2.99 at a Speedway station in Stow, Ohio today! If you’d like to buy gas there, you will have to spend quite a bit to do so. It’s roughly a five hour trip from West Michigan to Stow.

However, the downward trend should continue as the Midwest tries to break free of the huge 40.75-cent premium we’ve been seeing over the prices based on New York delivery. Chicago gasoline (what we use as a benchmark) has been trading at a 5-day average of $2.70 and change, justifying the prices we’re seeing locally. I am worried that any day we see prices trade higher could lead to a small “price reset” (to maintain margin) as some stations dive under $3.50.

To compare to my benchmark in Burns Harbor, IN, the price there is $3.55, so we may see a small hike if stations continue to drop prices at this rate (a few cents per day).

The cheapest gasoline stations I can find in the nation come in at $2.919 per gallon at a Pilot and $2.899 at a Flying J in Oklahoma City, OK (I’ve been at the Pilot station!)

In other news, it looks like the gasoline shortages are now just confined to areas around Georgia. Good news there are refiners continue to resume their operations.

Prices should trickle down everywhere all weekend, but check back in Sunday night for the odds of any hike.

Patrick