One of Editor & Publisher’s ‘10 That Do It Right 2021’

Partly cloudy. High 81F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low around 60F. Winds light and variable.

Thursday’s promotion resulted in a line of customers at the Circle K on Springfield Avenue in Champaign.

Thursday’s promotion resulted in a line of customers at the Circle K on Springfield Avenue in Champaign.

The current drop in U.S. prices at the pump is rare.

Average gas prices have dropped for 11 consecutive weeks to a national average of $3.79 a gallon, about $1.25 down since mid-June, according to gasbuddy.com.

“A lot of the reason for the decline is the concern for slowdown in the economy, with the federal reserve raising interest rates at an aggressive rate,” Chief Petroleum Analyst Patrick De Haan said.

On Thursday, Circle K held its nationwide “Fuel Day” where customers from 4 to 7 p.m. got 40 cents off per gallon at the pump at more than 3,600 locations.

Locally, the Neil Street Circle K hit $3.39 a gallon. By Friday, the lowest local prices were at Murphy USA ($3.69 a gallon) and BP on Philo Road ($3.74 a gallon).

By Friday, six Tuscola locations were at $3.60 a gallon or lower.

Whether the decline sustains depends on how many curveballs are thrown our way, De Haan said. Hurricane season can impact gas prices nationally depending on its severity, and geopolitical tensions remain high, he said.

“If things continue with mostly good news, gas prices could continue to go down,” De Haan said.

The largest refinery in the Midwest, BP’s location in Whiting, Ind., shut down for a week after an electrical fire but restarted a few days ago. A longer shutdown would’ve likely impacted prices in the region, he said.

To explain why gas prices are so high in the first place, De Haan compared the fuel situation to the “Mark McGuire caveat.”

“His home-run record should have a caveat because he was obviously taking performance-enhancing drugs,” De Haan said. “The only reason gas and oil prices are so much higher is certainly COVID-19 rushed by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“It’s an exceptional event combined with another exceptional event, that will prevent us from going back to ‘normal’ until the imbalances by COVID are behind us, until production gets back to pre-COVID level, and until Russia gets out of Ukraine.”

Ethan Simmons is a reporter at The News-Gazette covering the University of Illinois. His email is esimmons@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@ethancsimmons).