How Much Are MN Gas Prices Are Going Down, And Why
MINNESOTA — Gas prices in Minnesota are going down with the end of the busy summer travel season and global oil market fluctuations, according to experts.
A gallon of regular gasoline cost an average of $3.07 on Thursday, compared with $3.31 a month ago and $3.93 a year ago, according to AAA data.
Nationally, gas prices have plummeted 13 percent — a decline of about 50 cents a gallon — from an April 2024 peak, according to AAA data shared with ABC News.
The national average for regular gasoline was $3.22 a gallon Thursday.
That compares with $3.25 a gallon a week ago, $3.41 a gallon a month ago and $3.88 a gallon a year ago.
Gas prices typically go down in the fall, but the seasonal drop is accompanied by a sharp decline in the price of Brent crude oil, the commodity used by refineries to make gas. Crude prices have fallen 21 percent over the past year and, unexpectedly, more than 7 percent over the past month, ABC News reported.
Weakening demand for crude oil from China and robust supply from U.S. and other global producers caused the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the oil cartel, to pause until at least December its plans to increase production , The New York Times reported. The move was expected to stabilize the market, but didn't have the intended consequences, the newspaper said.
"There's pretty good supply and not much demand," Timothy Fitzgerald, a professor of business economics at Texas Tech University who studies the petroleum industry, told ABC News.
The annual switch to less-expensive winter fuel blends also is bringing the price down.
Experts said the lower prices are expected to continue barring any disruptions, such as hurricanes directed at major refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. An economic surge prompted by expected cuts in interest rates could also cause gas prices to tick back upward.
"There are some wild cards that we're watching," AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross told ABC News. "Outside those factors, there's not much that could cause a big jump in the price of gasoline."
