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As They Hit Nearly Three-Year High, Oklahoma Has Nation's Lowest Gas Prices

KWGS News

The national average price for a gallon of gas hit a nearly three-year high at almost $2.72 on Tuesday.

Oklahoma, however, is enjoying the nation’s lowest price right now at $2.43.

"We are always, consistently in the top 10 least expensive states. Even with the new taxes that are coming on board to help fund education, we still should be there," said AAA Oklahoma's Mark Madeja. "And that, of course, is due to the fact that we’re an oil and gas state."

Oklahoma gas prices are up 29 cents from a year ago. A perfect storm of factors has driven prices up.

"We’ve got expensive crude oil prices right now. We’ve got some unsettling, some unrest in the Middle East. We’ve got still a very strong domestic demand, record production rates, a global oil supply surplus," Madeja said.

AAA forecasts 88 million families hitting the road for vacations this summer and gas prices to increase more, but probably not all the way to $3.

"Expect gasoline demand to be strong. You’ll want to factor in potential $3 a gallon gasoline into your travel budget, but, really, it doesn’t look like it’s a deal breaker right now. It’s just something that we’re paying 20, 30 cents more this year than we did last year," Madeja said.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.