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Lower Gas Prices Will Likely Fuel Their Way Through Thanksgiving

Riza Nugraha
/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rnugraha/

Gasoline prices are down again, and with increasing oil reserves, an industry analyst says it appears they will stay that way.

GasBuddy's Patrick DeHaan says that the United States continues to set records with a massive oil surplus.

"We now stand at a 100 million-barrel surplus compared to just a year ago, and if you can wrap your mind around this, total U,S, petroleum inventories now are over 2 billion barrels," he says. "That's only the third time in history that's happened."

The Indianapolis average for a gallon of regular is just less than $2.00 a gallon, with the state average a few cents more. In West Lafayette, prices are hovering around the $1.86 mark. DeHaan says the recent price decrease at the pump is directly associated with the drop in crude prices.

While he notes it's hard to predict, he says it appears gas prices will stay low for Thanksgiving travelers next week. But with tensions rising in the Middle East after the attacks in Paris, there is an outside possibility prices could go up if oil infrastructure is targeted by military action. 

DeHaan says this week's low prices might just be the start. He thinks a barrel of oil may go lower than its current trading price of $40 a barrel.

Gas prices are around 91 cents cheaper than this time last year.

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