Gas Prices Steadily Decline Across Ozarks Heading into July

(Springfield, MO) -- If you're planning to do much driving between now and the Fourth of July, it'll cost you a little less.

The average price for a gallon of gas in Missouri has fallen nearly six cents in the past week. The average is now $3.25, which is about what you'll pay at most Springfield stations.

We asked Dr. Terrel Gallaway, an economics professor at Missouri State University, why there was a sudden drop in gas prices, especially around a holiday.

"The economic recovery has been slowing down," he says. "That puts a down pressure on prices. There's also been some over production in the world, so a number of issues."

In Arkansas, average retail prices have fallen four cents per gallon in the past week, to around $3.18 for a gallon of regular unleaded. That means Arkansas are paying 25 cents less than they were one year ago and about 17 cents less than a month ago.

Nationally, prices dropped nine cents to $3.41, according to the Daily Fuel Gauge Report. That's the lowest level since February 4, 2012.

"The market suggests gas will go below $3 a gallon probably around Halloween or Election Day," said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service, on "CBS This Morning."

He acknowledged the timing -- prices plummeting just as Americans are heading to the voting booths to decide whether or not President Obama will keep his job -- would have conspiracy theorists' heads spinning.

Kloza says that the price reduction was just part of a natural market cycle, deriving in part by dramatically decreasing crude oil prices both globally and domestically, higher crude production in North America, and the natural tendency for demand to decrease after Labor Day.

"Consider that we paid $2.70 or so in 2010, so we've seen this before," Kloza said.

Tepid consumer demand has already played a role in free-falling gas prices over the last 11 weeks, following skyrocketing prices for the first part of 2012.

Colorado boasted some of the lowest gas prices in the country during the months where the national average hovered near $4 a gallon, but the tables have turned as prices elsewhere have fallen. Prices are falling in Colorado, but at a much more sluggish rate. According to gasbuddy.com, Colorado currently has the ninth highest prices in the country, with a state average of $3.65 a gallon.

The country's lowest gas prices can be found in the South, where South Carolina is the first state to drop below $3 a gallon, with a state average of $2.99. Mississippi and Alabama follow at $3.06 and $3.09 respectively; Tennessee and Louisiana round out the top five.