Gasoline prices have been declining in Iowa after a sharp increase earlier this month. Triple-A-Iowa spokeswoman Rose White says prices are down 30-cents a gallon in the last 30 days. She says that’s because a Kansas oil refinery announced its operations would resume by mid-September after being closed earlier this month by flooding.
White says several refineries coming back on line have contributed to a drop in gas prices. White says, "That, in combination with other positive news that came out of a plant located in Oklahoma, as well as in Whitting, Indiana. All of them basically announced positive news all during the same week and so that certainly helped to attribute to lower prices here in the Midwest."
White says prices should continue to go down over the next several months as long as the refineries continue production as planned. She says an uneventful hurricane season will also keep gas prices low. The current price for a gallon of self-service unleaded in Iowa is two-94, down from a record high of three-35 back in May. The current national average is two-87, about seven-cents lower than Iowa.