| Lowest Gas Prices in Chattanooga |
| Chattanooga Gas Prices provided by GasBuddy.com |
Kelly Love, who lives in Jasper and works in Chattanooga, keeps her eye on gas prices to limit the cost of her daily 30-mile commute.
On Monday, she filled her Toyota Highlander with the cheapest gas she can ever recall – $1.43 per gallon – at the Sam’s Club on Lee Highway.
“I figure I’m probably saving $80 a month in gas from what I paid a couple of years ago,” Love said while refueling her car Monday afternoon. “In fact, I was able to save enough money to buy my car with the lower price of gas.”
Love and other motorists in Chattanooga are enjoying the lowest nominal price for regular gas in Chattanooga since 2008, according to the gasoline price website GasBuddy.com. Adjusted for inflation, gas prices fell in the past week to the lowest level in more than a half century as oil markets continued to adjust to an abundance of crude oil and a slower growth in fuel demand.
The last time the real price of gas was so low, Lyndon Johnson was president, the Beatles and the Supremes were top of the music charts and the average cost of a new car was $2,650.
“Gas is now cheaper than bottled water or milk, and in Chattanooga and in real dollars (adjusted for inflation) it’s the cheapest it’s been since 1965,” said Gregg Laskoski Sr., a petroleum analyst for the Southeast for GasBuddy.com
GasBuddy petroleum analysts estimate the typical American motorists last year saved about $700 in gas expenses compared with 2014, and they are forecasting even more savings this year with gas predicted to average about 13 cents a gallon less than last year.
On Monday, brent crude oil fell 6.3 percent to $30.15 a barrel following a 10 percent rise on Friday. The slide came as the head of OPEC called for all oil-producing nations to work together to tackle an oversupply of oil in the market.
“As the Northeast digs out from the brutal blizzard Jonas, commodities markets are attempting to dig themselves out of their recent hole,” said Will Speer, a GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst. “Crude oil futures have lost 18 percent of value since the end of 2015 and have cleared the way for the retail gasoline price decline.”
The average price of a gallon of regular gas fell this week in Chattanooga another 5.1 cents a gallon from a week ago to $1.55 a gallon, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 170 gas outlets in Chattanooga. Chattanooga gas prices averaged 27 cents a gallon below the U.S. average price of $1.82 a gallon.
Gas was priced as low as $1.42 a gallon at one Kangaroo station on Highway 58 on Monday – the cheapest in the Chattanooga area, according to GasBuddy.com.
Including the change in gas prices in Chattanooga during the past week, prices Sunday in Chattanooga were 27.5 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 14.8 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.
Cindy Sims, a Goodwill employee who traveled to Cleveland, Tenn., on Monday, said cheaper gas helps her cover the 23 counties served by Goodwill.
“We’re all saving money, and that helps a lot,” she said.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340.