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How would you like to pay under $2 a gallon for your gasoline?

Unlike some places, Durango comes in at $2.76
The Energy Department on Tuesday again slashed its prediction for next year’s average price of gasoline across the U.S., this time to $2.60 a gallon. That’s 23 percent below the projected average for this year and the lowest since 2009.

Falling gasoline prices have brought a gallon of unleaded to less than $2 in certain parts of the country, including in Oklahoma City and Texas.

But the average price in Durango remained well above the $2 mark Tuesday.

The OnCue Express gasoline station in south Oklahoma City is advertising gasoline at $1.99 a gallon.

The national average for gasoline Friday was $2.71 a gallon, the cheapest gasoline since 2010.

The ongoing price swoon is seen in Durango, too, but not to such a level.

The AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report found a gallon of unleaded in Durango on Tuesday was $2.76.

There has been a continuous slide in the price of gasoline in Durango since a year ago when a gallon of unleaded was $3.28. A week ago, the price was $2.88 and a month ago it was $2.82.

Jack Llewellyn, director of the Durango Chamber of Commerce, said cheaper gasoline should increase travel.

“I haven’t seen it first-hand,” Llewellyn said. “But if people see lower gasoline prices, they feel they have more discretionary income.”

The sensation of feeling flush could encourage them to travel, Llewellyn said.

Nate Monroe, sales manager with Durango Motor Co., said if gas prices go up, people tend to buy economy cars; but as prices come down, there hasn’t been any apparent trends.

Paul Rahricht, sales manager at New Country Auto Center in Cortez, doesn’t think cheaper gasoline will affect auto sales.

“I don’t think it will make a difference,” Rahricht said.

The Reynolds Center for Business Journalism reported, however, that there is a ripple effect. In November, U.S. auto sales reached a seasonally adjusted sales rate of 17.2 million vehicles, the highest in a decade.

daler@durangoherald.com

Dec 9, 2014
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