Average gasoline prices fall in Iowa

CEDAR RAPIDS - Iowans are paying less at the pump as the price of crude oil falls below $100 a barrel.

Average retail gasoline prices in Iowa have fallen 2.1 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.35 per gallon Sunday, according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 2,036 gas outlets in Iowa.

That compares with the national average that has increased 1.3 cents per gallon in the last week to $3.44 per gallon, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.

In Cedar Rapids, the average price of midgrade unleaded with ethanol has slipped to $3.16 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.com. The average price for the same grade of fuel in Iowa City is $3.22 per gallon.

Including the change in gas prices in Iowa during the past week, prices Sunday were 31 cents per gallon lower than the same day a year ago and 4.8 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 2.2 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 13.7 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.

'The last week saw upward momentum in gas prices continue, leading the national average up about a penny,” said GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan. 'We're past the seventh inning stretch for what will be a short lived upward trend, and motorists will be seeing lower prices by late September in most areas across the country.

'A mere 1.5 percent of all U.S. gas stations are priced over $4 per gallon, while roughly a third of stations are seeing prices over $3.50 per gallon, a huge drop compared with last year when nearly 62 percent of stations were charging over $3.50 per gallon.”

DeHaan said the cheapest 5 percent of stations nationwide are charging an average of $3.08 per gallon, and that price will likely continue moving lower in the weeks ahead.