Owner says: ‘Everybody likes it’

Gasoline prices dipped below $2 a gallon at the pump at two convenience stores in Albert Lea on Tuesday.

Regular unleaded gas was $1.99 a gallon at the Clark station, 701 S. Broadway, and at Freeborn County Co-op Oil, 1840 Margaretha Ave. The prices at other stores in Albert Lea ranged from $2.06 to $2.10 a gallon, as of press time.

“It’s just great,” said Dennis Mattson, who stopped at the Clark station Wednesday morning. “I never figured gas could get even below three and a half again.”

Mattson said he has a pickup with a 32-gallon tank. With the reduced cost, he’s spending about $65 to fill up. At one point, he was paying double.

The decrease comes as the nation is seeing some of the lowest gas prices in five years. The average price for unleaded regular gas dropped below $3 in Minnesota in October.

Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com, said though the sub-$2 a gallon prices are not expected to remain for all of 2015, motorists can expect prices to remain below $3 a gallon.

“It’s looking very good for motorists in the year ahead,” DeHaan said.

Prices are expected to increase in late winter and peak in April or May. In the last 10 years, prices have increased between 35 and 65 cents a gallon in that time frame, he said.

Prices generally decrease slightly in June but are more volatile in August during the peak of hurricane season.

As of Wednesday morning, the average Minnesota gas prices was $2.10 per gallon and $2.25 a gallon nationwide, according to GasBuddy.com.

Victor Patel, owner of the Clark station, said people are happy about the decrease.

“They say that’s nice to see,” Patel said. “Everybody likes it.”