Gas Prices Continue to Trickle Downward

By J.K. Wall, The Indianapolis Star

Nov. 7–What a surprise.

Little more than two months after Hurricane Katrina blew gas prices over $3 a gallon, some fuel stations in Indianapolis have slipped their prices below $2.

Such was the case Friday along Shadeland Avenue on Indianapolis’ Eastside. At the Speedway station at 16th Street, cars jockeyed into short lines in the small lot.

“I’m really surprised,” Janice Farrell, Crawfordsville, said as she topped off her car’s tank. “We thought we were going to be paying out the nose for the rest of the winter.”

Prices have come down steadily as more and more refineries — knocked out of commission by the Gulf Coast hurricane — have come back online, said Greg Seiter, public affairs manager for AAA Hoosier Motor Club.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel in metro Indianapolis was still $2.219 as of early Friday, according to AAA.

A year ago, the average price was $1.959.

Across Indiana, the average price for regular was $2.299 a gallon Friday morning. The per-gallon price has not been below $2 since February, AAA reports.

For Farrell, who logs 1,000 miles per week, the relief is nice. But asked if she expects it to last, she said, “I doubt it.”

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