Gas Prices In Michigan & Nationwide Continue to Drop

Gas prices continue a downward trend as more and more people are asked to stay home to combat the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus).

GasBuddy.com says for the fourth straight week, the national average price of gasoline has fallen 12.8 cents over the last week to $2.08 per gallon today according to their data compiled from more than 11 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country. The average price of diesel, meanwhile, fell 6.5 cents to $2.66 per gallon.

Locally, gas prices have been holding steady since initially going down. In Michigan, the average price for a gallon of gas is $1.84, down from $2.02 a week ago. The national average is higher at $2.12, according to AAA. In Kalamazoo, the average is $1.84 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline. In Battle Creek, the average is $1.90 for a gallon of regular unleaded gas. Gas stations in Sturgis, which sits along the Michigan and Indiana border, had gas prices at $1.67 for a gallon of regular unleaded gas over the weekend.

Those who fill-up at membership-based warehouse store gas stations will be paying closer to $1.40 in the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek area.

Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy had this to say...

Gas prices have spent virtually all of March marching lower, with the drop continuing as the coronavirus destroys oil demand globally, leading to the lowest oil prices we’ve seen in 18 years, paving the way for still an additional 35-75 cent per gallon drop at most stations in the weeks ahead. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a collapse in prices, even including the Great Recession. What we’re witnessing is easily going to go down as the great collapse in oil demand, and for motorists hurrying to fill up today, they’re wasting their money as prices will continue to drop in the days ahead. Gas stations are passing along the drop several weeks behind, and there’s plenty more room for prices to drop, putting 99 cents per gallon prices as a strong possibility for perhaps many more stations than we previously anticipated. This is truly an unprecedented turn of events.