Students traveling to the Red River Rivalry can expect to find lower gas prices upon arriving in Dallas.
Chemistry senior Rachel Baray refueled her silver sedan Thursday at the 7-Eleven station on the corner of Guadalupe and 26th streets in preparation for her trip to the game. Baray said she and friends have driven to Dallas to watch the Longhorns play the Sooners for the past two years, and she spends close to $60 filling up her gas tank for the drive from Austin and back.
This year, she could save a few dollars by topping her tank off before she heads back to Austin.
At the 7-Eleven where Baray chose to fill up her car Thursday, regular unleaded gas cost $3.23 per gallon. At a 7-Eleven station located on Greenville Avenue and Park Lane in Dallas, regular unleaded gas cost $2.94 a gallon on Thursday.
“I’m definitely going to make a point to find those stations,” Baray said.
Scott Drake, 7-Eleven vice president of finance and communication, said several of the Dallas convenient stores have hit prices in the lower $3 range.
“That particular store is in a very competitive location, so I’m not surprised it was the first to drop prices,” Drake said. “We’d love to get more people in our stores to shop, so we’re very keen on getting gas prices lower.”
Drake said fuel distribution centers are nearly 15 miles from the city of Dallas, but another 200 miles from Austin, and although both cities are relatively large, transportation from the centers to each station factors into the price of fuel.
Michael Breard, Hodges Capital Management energy analyst, said crude oil prices fall when stock market prices begin to drop and directly affect the price of gasoline used for fuel. He said the most current cost of crude oil is $79.50 per barrel, down from prices in the high $80 range earlier this year.
The lowest price of regular unleaded fuel in Dallas is available at a Sam’s Club on Wheatland Road, for $2.92 a gallon, according to a Thursday update on gasbuddy.com. According to the website, $3.09 a gallon for regular unleaded gas at the Major Brand store on Congress Avenue was the lowest price per gallon in Austin.
The price of oil per barrel would have to fall another $9.50 in order for prices to hit the $2.99 per gallon range in Austin, something Breard said he does not see happening soon.
“I don’t think gas will drop back down unless we have a really bad recession,” Breard said. “We’re also getting into the winter heating system where [companies] make more fuel oil, so gasoline prices tend to be higher in the fall.”
