{"id":26123,"date":"2016-02-18T10:40:36","date_gmt":"2016-02-18T16:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=26123"},"modified":"2016-02-18T10:41:43","modified_gmt":"2016-02-18T16:41:43","slug":"the-promise-and-peril-of-1-gasoline-in-oil-rich-oklahoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2016\/02\/18\/the-promise-and-peril-of-1-gasoline-in-oil-rich-oklahoma\/","title":{"rendered":"The Promise and Peril of $1 Gasoline in Oil-Rich Oklahoma"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_26124\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26124\" alt=\"Employee Gene Howell and co-owner Ross Ledbetter at Reeder's Auto and Tire in Midtown Tulsa, Okla.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/20160215-reeders-pics017_WEB.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/20160215-reeders-pics017_WEB.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/20160215-reeders-pics017_WEB-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/20160215-reeders-pics017_WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/20160215-reeders-pics017_WEB-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Employee Gene Howell and co-owner Ross Ledbetter at Reeder&#39;s Auto and Tire in Midtown Tulsa, Okla.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>Crashing crude oil prices are fueling big bargains for American motorists, who are driving away with tanks full of inexpensive gasoline. Today, the national average is $1.71 for a gallon of regular unleaded. Oklahoma could be one of the first places in the country to see gas prices dip below $1 a gallon.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/247704982&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p><p>A shiny black Mercedes pulls up near a pump, the bell rings and Ross Ledbetter tells the driver to pop the hood.<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s showing full,\u201d he shouts. \u201cYou have a concern?\u201d<\/p><p>The oil level checks out and the driver speeds away from Reeder\u2019s Auto and Tire in midtown Tulsa having received the services of a mechanic \u2014 without spending a dime.<\/p><p>\u201cIt was just a courtesy,\u201d Ledbetter says. \u201cThey had a concern and we could check it real quick. Good people and good service drive business so we try to be good people first.\u201d<\/p><p>Ledbetter is the co-owner of Reeder\u2019s, which has been his wife\u2019s family\u2019s business since 1961. Reeder\u2019s is well known for its full-service attendants, on-site mechanics and retro-petrol branding. It\u2019s a destination, but at the end of the day, it\u2019s still a gas station: The price on the sign near the street means everything.<\/p><p>\u201cThere\u2019s not many businesses out there that put their posted price of their product, everyday, on a sign, on the street corner, for everybody to see,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26131\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.gasbuddy.com\/posts\/Lowest-Gas-Prices-in-Over-12-Years-Hit-Midwest\/1715-637446-3554.aspx\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-26131\" alt=\"Analysts at GasBuddy, a service that helps customers find gasoline bargains, say fuel prices throughout the middle of the U.S. recently reached 12-year lows.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/gasbuddy-12-year-analysis-TN-620x348.png\" width=\"620\" height=\"348\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/gasbuddy-12-year-analysis-TN-620x348.png 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/gasbuddy-12-year-analysis-TN-500x281.png 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/gasbuddy-12-year-analysis-TN-150x84.png 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/gasbuddy-12-year-analysis-TN-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/02\/gasbuddy-12-year-analysis-TN.png 749w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Click here to read an analysis by petroleum experts GasBuddy that fuel prices throughout the middle of the U.S. recently reached 12-year lows and could dip below $1 a gallon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Burn, Balance<\/h3><p>Oklahoma hasn\u2019t seen average gasoline prices <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.gasbuddy.com\/posts\/Lowest-Gas-Prices-in-Over-12-Years-Hit-Midwest\/1715-637446-3554.aspx\">this low<\/a> since December 2003, says Will Speer, a senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, an internet and mobile phone service that helps customers find gas station bargains.<\/p><p>Speer says U.S. refineries have gorged on cheap crude to make the largest <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-oil-eia-idUSKCN0VC1X6\">stockpile<\/a> of gasoline in 22 years. In land-locked states like Oklahoma, there\u2019s no place for all that extra gasoline to go.<\/p><p>&#8220;In the Gulf Coast, if you produce too much gasoline you can easily put it on massive cargo ships and ship it to anywhere in the world,\u201d says. In mid-continent states, however, \u201cyou almost have to burn through it.\u201d<\/p><p>Speer thinks gasoline prices in the middle of the country \u2014 from Oklahoma to North Dakota and east as far as Ohio \u2014 could fall below $1 a gallon.<\/p><p>Analysts at the Oil Price Information Service say the last time Oklahoma drivers filled up with $0.99-cent gas was on Dec. 28, 2001.<\/p>\n<h3>Latte Economics<\/h3><p>At Reeder\u2019s Auto and Tire, the lunchtime crowd lines up to fuel up and retrieve cars left with mechanics before work. Ledbetter pushes his team of about a dozen to learn customers\u2019 names and give them personalized service, but nothing has a bigger impact on his bottom line than the price on his sign.<\/p><p>\u201cPeople will panic on a three-cent change as they\u2019re on their way to buy their $8, $10 latte,\u201d he says.<\/p><p>Ledbetter says low oil prices have been good for retail gasoline sales. It means more customers with more money to spend \u2014 maybe on a car wash or a snack. Ledbetter says he\u2019s seeing other business savings, too. Many of the lubricants and other chemicals his mechanics use are made from oil. And those products are getting a bit cheaper.<\/p><p>\u201cIt makes anybody happy when they get something for a lesser price,\u201d he says. \u201cNow, of course, that has all kinds of repercussions on the other side, you know, in a state like Oklahoma, where a lot of the tax revenues come from it.\u201d<\/p><p>The crude oil downturn is driving <a href=\"http:\/\/newsok.com\/oklahoma-city-based-devon-energy-prepares-for-continued-low-oil-prices\/article\/5479511\">major losses and layoffs<\/a> at energy firms throughout petroleum-rich Oklahoma. And it\u2019s helped blow <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tulsaworld.com\/ap\/state\/oklahoma-panel-led-by-fallin-certifies-billion-hole\/article_77b41089-7924-55b1-8f48-fab95cd8f69c.html\">a $1.1 billion hole<\/a> in Oklahoma\u2019s government budget.<\/p><p>Speer at GasBuddy says low gasoline prices are starting to squeeze profits at midcontinent refineries, which data suggest are starting to slow gasoline production. Diving gasoline prices have been buoyed by the news, Speer says.<\/p><p>\u201cEveryone was looking at these very high inventories for gasoline in states like Oklahoma and wondering how in the heck will anyone be able to burn through that,\u201d Speer says. \u201cWell, the refiners have their own answer \u2014 and it\u2019s to make less gasoline.\u201d<\/p><p>Even if longer-term numbers make it clear that refineries indeed are curbing gasoline production to reduce supply and boost prices, Speer says it could take a long time for oil and gas companies to follow suit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIt makes anybody happy when they get something for a lesser price,\u201d he says. \u201cNow, of course, that has all kinds of repercussions on the other side, you know, in a state like Oklahoma, where a lot of the tax revenues come from it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":26129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[490],"tags":[349,419,638],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26123"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26123"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26136,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26123\/revisions\/26136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}