Yahoo Finance Mississippi has the cheapest gas in the nation, and prices are even lower on the Coast
Mississippi’s gas prices, already the least expensive in the nation, continue to fall, with the state’s average price per gallon dropping below $3 per gallon on Wednesday.
Data from the American Automobile Association shows the Magnolia State’s average price per gallon on Thursday as $2.982, down over a dime from the state’s average a month ago.
This amount is about 50 cents cheaper than what the AAA has posted for the national price per gallon average, which sits a little under $3.50 on Thursday.
Mississippi’s gas prices usually lead the nation for being most affordable – but on the Coast, it isn’t hard to find gas that’s even cheaper.
In Harrison County, the average price per gallon ($2.884) of gas was 10 cents cheaper than the state’s posted average, as of Thursday. Stone County ($2.934) clocked in at about a nickel lower than the state average and Jackson County’s average ($2.977) was cheaper by roughly a single cent.
Hancock ($2.993), Pearl River ($3.025) and George Counties’ ($3.066) average price per gallon sit a little above the state average, but are within a six-cent difference.
Near where Interstate 10 crosses U.S. 49, a few gas stations are charging regular unleaded gas at prices hovering under $2.65 per gallon as of Tuesday, like it did at a Murphy USA in front of the Walmart. As of Wednesday, most costs had lowered to below Tuesday’s.
These stations ask for about thirty cents below Mississippi’s state average price per gallon and nearing a full dollar less than the national average.
Gasbuddy lists seven of the top 10 cheapest gas stations in Mississippi as belonging to the Coast, as of Thursday. Of those ten listed gas stations, over half were in Gulfport.
While still quite markedly below the state and nation’s average price per gallon, gas prices on the Coast can still vary widely. Further down the street on U.S. 49, the cost per gallon might be about 20 cents more per gallon, compared to offerings closer to the interstate, like at the Shell station across the street from Gulfport’s Burger King.
That being the case, it might be worth driving a few extra minutes in an effort to find a station offering better values.
National trends for gas
The AAA said in a statement that gas prices will probably continue to slowly fall, based on “tepid demand” for gas and a lower oil price.
AAA spokesman Andrew Gross said that hurricane season, one that’s forecasted to be very active this year, may interfere with Gulf Coast production, temporarily pushing up the prices nationally.
Why MS Coast gas prices are so cheap
There’s a number of different reasons for the different gas prices, said Greg Upton, a Louisiana-based energy industry expert.
He said there’s a number of different reasons Mississippi usually sets the national floor for lowest average price per gallon. But few of those reasons are concrete. Prices and conditions fluctuate often and for any number of different domestic or international reasons.
“Southern Mississippi is kind of in that Mecca of refining capacity,” Upton said. “Nationally, as you propagate away from that refining capacity, holding everything else constant, the fuel price goes up because it’s a longer distance for transportation.”
When those tanker trucks carrying gas to the stations have to travel farther, he said, it causally bumps up the prices. Coast cities are nestled between port-shipping, railroad tracks and the interstate as well as physical closeness to refineries, which helps a great deal to this effect, he added. And it can also help when stations are close to each other.
Upton said the low costs of doing business in Mississippi is also an aggregate to lower gas prices. The cost of doing business is cheaper in Mississippi than New York, he gave as an example, because gas companies have to account for things like worker wages and property costs, which can bump up prices at the pump.
He also pointed to Mississippi’s low gas tax when compared to other states. Mississippi is tied in fourth place for the lowest gas tax in the nation, at 18 cents per gallon.
Finally, Upton said, gas stations want to remain competitive against each other. So the lowest, most competitive yet profitable price is usually what’s stamped, often to the benefit of the consumer.
