Gas Prices Expected to Stay Low for 2015: Which States Are the Cheapest?

Many Americans are breathing a sigh of relief each time they fill up their car’s gas tank, and that’s just in time to help pay off holiday credit card bills.

According to the AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report, which collects prices from thousands of gas stations across the country, the latest average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline has dropped to $2.19. This is down more than a dollar from last year at this time, when the average was $3.31 per gallon. The price of fas has now gone down for more than 100 consecutive days, according to the report.

While this is great news for most Americans (AAA estimates Americans saved a combined $14 billion on fuel in 2014), the bigger question is how long will prices stay low?

“U.S. drivers ended the year on a high-note with gas prices plummeting over the last few months,” said Avery Ash, a spokesperson for AAA. ”Cheaper gas prices have helped to improve the economy by boosting both consumer confidence and disposable income.”

According to economic and fuel experts at GasBuddy.com, the outlook for cheap gas prices through 2015 is very good. Their research has led to them predicting that the average price of a gallon of regular will see some fluctuation through the year, including peaks during the summer vacation season, but that by December, the price will be close to what it is now: About $2.30 per gallon. They forecast the high to be in May, at $2.86 per gallon.

“What occurred in 2014 was nothing short of a paradigm shift in favor of North American energy producers and consumers, at the expense of OPEC and the Middle East,” said Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.

Which States Have the Lowest Gas Prices:

Missouri

Oklahoma

Kansas

Texas

Ohio

$1.82

$1.88

$1.91

$1.96

$1.98

Which States Have the Highest Gas Prices:

Hawaii

Alaska

New York

California

Vermont

$3.45

$2.99

$2.70

$2.65

$2.62