The coronavirus has caused the price of gasoline in North Dakota to drop 15 cents in the past week, and some industry analysts say the downward spiral could see gas plummet to 99 cents a gallon.
According to travel and navigation application GasBuddy, gas prices in the state are 37 cents lower than one month ago. The company conducts a daily survey of 493 gas stations in the state and found the average price per gallon is $1.95, with no end in sight to the decreasing prices.
"I don't think I've ever seen such a collapse in prices, even including the Great Recession,” wrote Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, in a press release. “What we're witnessing is easily going to go down as the great collapse in oil demand, and for motorists hurrying to fill up today, they're wasting their money as prices will continue to drop in the days ahead.”
According to DeHaan, gas stations are passing along the drop in prices several weeks behind, and there is plenty of room for them to fall even lower, making 99 cents per gallon a “strong possibility.”
The average price of gas in Grand Forks county is $1.88 per gallon. That price drops even more for those in Cass County, where prices sit, for now, at $1.76.
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“This is truly an unprecedented turn of events,” DeHaan said.
Historical gasoline prices in North Dakota and the national average going back 10 years (from GasBuddy):
March 23, 2019: $2.57/g (U.S. Average: $2.63/g)
March 23, 2018: $2.58/g (U.S. Average: $2.60/g)
March 23, 2017: $2.27/g (U.S. Average: $2.29/g)
March 23, 2016: $1.96/g (U.S. Average: $1.99/g)
March 23, 2015: $2.38/g (U.S. Average: $2.42/g)
March 23, 2014: $3.53/g (U.S. Average: $3.53/g)
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March 23, 2013: $3.70/g (U.S. Average: $3.68/g)
March 23, 2012: $3.73/g (U.S. Average: $3.89/g)
March 23, 2011: $3.52/g (U.S. Average: $3.55/g)
March 23, 2010: $2.88/g (U.S. Average: $2.80/g)
Neighboring areas and their current gas prices:
Sioux Falls- $1.98/g, down 14.3 cents per gallon from last week's $2.13/g.
Fargo- $1.76/g, down 21.2 cents per gallon from last week's $1.98/g.
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South Dakota- $2.01/g, down 13.3 cents per gallon from last week's $2.15/g.
