After feds take action to waive gas restrictions, prices at the pump in Michigan drop
Frank WitsilAverage gas prices in Michigan dropped 10 cents from a week ago, a sign that recent emergency efforts to ease the pain at the pump may be effective, although AAA, which tracks prices predicted that prices still could creep back up.
Michigan motorists are now paying an average of $3.68 a gallon for regular unleaded, 8 cents more than a month ago, but 7 cents less than a year ago. The cost to fill up a 15-gallon tank is now $55.
"Michigan motorists are seeing lower prices at the pump," Adrienne Woodland, a spokeswoman for the auto club, said early Monday, warning that the drop, however, might not continue. "Lower gasoline demand amid higher oil costs may lead to flat or slowly rising pump prices."
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Last month, Michigan’s average price hit a high for the year, $3.81 a gallon, and last week, the Environmental Protection Agency temporarily lifted restrictions on the sale of certain gasoline blends in Michigan and three other Midwestern states to ease supply issues that sent prices soaring.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had requested the waiver, which the EPA called an emergency response to the shutdown of the Exxon Mobile refinery in Joliet, Illinois, near Chicago, which crimped the regional supply of summer gasoline blends.
"With oil prices plummeting due to new concerns over the U.S. economy after a poor jobs report, gasoline prices have seen downside in many states," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, adding that prices in more states could come down "as previous refinery disruptions in the Great Lakes region fade away and the restart process begins."
Gas demand slid from 9.45 million barrels a day to 9.25 million barrels a day, while total domestic gasoline stocks fell from 227.4 to 223.8 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration. Gasoline production fell, averaging 10 million barrels a day.
Compared with last week, metro Detroit’s average gas price fell slightly to $3.69 a gallon, 1 cent less than last week’s average.
And around the state, averages varied.
Most expensive gas prices in Michigan
- Jackson: $3.76
- Ann Arbor: $3.74
- Grand Rapids: $3.71
Least expensive gas prices in Michigan
- Marquette: $3.49
- Flint: $3.60
- Benton Harbor: $3.66
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.