Gas prices up a penny in latest survey

While it might not seem like it, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources monthly survey shows the average price of a gallon of gas went up only a penny last month. D-N-R analyst Ward Lenz says you probably saw a lot of fluctuations in the price between fill-ups. He says that happens as retailers try to keep up with price changes. They buy large quantities of gas and are stuck with the price they paid until that gas is used up.Lenz says the swings in price this year have been out of the ordinary. He says they normally only change a few cents, but this year they’ve been swinging in much larger increments.The D-N-R survey shows the average gallon of gas cost a-dollar-and-47-cents. The survey also checks the price of other fuels and found that propane users caught a break. Lenz says lower demand led to a 13-cent decrease in the price of propane to one-dollar-and-fifteen-cents a gallon. He says there could be problems if we hit a cold period.Fourteen-percent of Iowans heat their homes with propane. Lenz says heating oil users have also fared better than expected.They thought heating oil prices would go way up, but he says they’ve been pretty steady. Lenz says four-percent of Iowans use heating oil for their fuel.