Gas prices, they are a fallin’

By Ebony Horton

Published: October 13, 2008

OZARK – 50-year-old Charles Penn has seen more things in the last month than he expected to in his lifetime.

Terms like “Great Depression” and “recession” are thrown around as reality. Gas shortages have become common.

But there’s some good news: fuel prices could get even lower for truck drivers like Penn than they were on Monday when Penn filled his truck with diesel fuel for around $4.10 a gallon.

Unleaded fuel was as low as $2.88 in Ozark, and officials say fuel prices are expected to continue to drop to below $2.50 between now and February.

“In a nutshell, it’s just kinda time for it. It had been going down before the hurricanes came in and now crude oil and wholesale gasoline futures are on the normal downward trend that happens this time of year,” AAA spokesman Clay Ingram said.

“They might not go back up until early February in preparation for the March demand when weather warms up. The key is the more we price shop now and the lower we get our prices, the lower they will be in February for the remainder of the year.”

Ingram said several factors, including worldwide strength of the dollar, Wall Street, and the Dow, as well as the demand this winter for heating oil in the Northeast, will affect how high – or low – crude prices will be in coming weeks.

Crude oil price was lower than $73 per barrel on Monday compared to more than $90 last month, according to Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Those prices were a sigh of relief for men like Rex McDaniel.

“I’m in the timber business so I don’t have the option of cutting back on fuel because my loggin’ crews depend on me,” he said.

“This price ($2.88) was much better than it has been, but it’s still high when I can remember gas was 29.9 (cents).”