Iowa natural gas prices have fallen in the past week

While Iowa motorists are enjoying sharply lower prices at the pump, their home heating bill also should reflect a lower cost for natural gas, propane, and heating oil.

The price of natural gas dropped 59 cents per decatherm (million British thermal units) over the previous week, closing Wednesday at $2.97, down 16.6 percent, according to the a weekly report from the Iowa Department of Agriculture.

That's the lowest since the week of Sept. 26, 2012, when natural gas was $3 per decatherm, according to Department of Agriculture records.

The price of regular unleaded gasoline averaged $2.18 across Iowa on Wednesday, according to AAA auto club. That's down 11 cents per gallon, or 8.8 percent, from last week and down 94 cents per gallon or 30.1 percent from a year ago.

The national average on Tuesday was $2.35 per gallon, down 16 cents, or 6.4 percent, from last week's price.

Many convenience stores in the Cedar Rapids area dropped the price of regular unleaded gasoline to $1.999 on Wednesday afternoon, bringing the price under $2 per gallon for the first time since 2009.

Retail diesel fuel prices in Iowa are down 27 cents per gallon to a statewide average of $3.06 per gallon. One year ago diesel prices averaged $3.76 per gallon in Iowa.

The current Iowa diesel average is 17 cents per gallon lower than the national average of $3.23.

Propane prices were down 2 cents per gallon compared with last week's statewide average of $1.56 per gallon. Home heating oil fell 21 cents over the last week to a statewide average of $2.45 per gallon.

Lower energy prices have spurred consumer travel, fueling the fastest rise in miles driven since 2006, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

Drivers logged 264.2 billion vehicle miles in October, the most ever for that month and a 2.6 percent increase over October 2013, according to the agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Figures for November will be released early next month by the federal agency and are expected to reflect the same trend.