Bay Area drivers excited to find gas below $2 a gallon

Amy Hollyfield Image
ByAmy Hollyfield KGO logo
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Bay Area drivers excited to find gas below $2 a gallon
Waiting in line paid off in Mill Valley on Tuesday morning as customers watched gas prices fall before their very eyes.

MILL VALLEY, Calif. (KGO) -- Gas prices at some Bay Area stations are falling right in front of our eyes. Waiting in line paid off in Mill Valley Tuesday morning as customers watched gas prices fall before their eyes.

The owner of the ARCO gas station on Redwood Highway says he usually sees about 3,000 customers a day. On Tuesday he's expecting that to be about 3,300.

"Well, it changed while I was in line to get in from $1.95 to $1.91," said San Rafael resident Etty Dolan. "I thought, that's a surprise!"

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Just $1 and 91 cents for a gallon of unleaded gas. And the owner of that ARCO station, Mike Shamsian, expects the price will continue to fall.

"Hoping in the next few days to go $1.89," he said. "And depending on how things go, could go down another dime."

His customers are thrilled.

"I think it's great," said San Rafael resident Jackie Sugich. "I am glad I am not invested in gas on the stock market, but I definitely love it for my gas tank."

San Rafael resident Ed Wiltey added, "It helps me a lot; I remember before when it was over $4 a gallon. It took like $100 to fill this truck up before. So now it's like $40."

You do need to shop around to find prices this good. The stations across the highway are charging almost $1 more. But even those are lower than normal.

Prices are down across the country an average of 25 cents compared to a month ago.

Analysts say there are a few factors at play here, including international markets and extra volumes of winter blended gas that need to be unloaded.

"Because the crude is very cheap, there's just not a lot of demand and there's a lot of supply," said Shamsian.

Drivers plan to enjoy it while they can.