BY TANYA ALBERT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Motorists filling up their gas tanks to get to their Thanksgiving destinations will pay less this year than they did last turkey day. Drivers will save nearly 18 cents with every gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline they pump.
Filling a 15-gallon tank, they'll save enough for about an extra three pounds of turkey for Thanksgiving Day.
For University of Cincinnati student Jim Woodrum, 20, it means he can go farther before he'll have to pay his parents back for the gas he uses.
"I usually look for the lowest prices," said Mr. Woodrum, who plans to drive 200 miles home to Wadsworth, Ohio, this weekend.
Nationally, a gallon of regular unleaded gas is going for $1.055 a gallon in November, the lowest price since March 1992, when gas averaged $1.049 a gallon, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Report.
Self-serve midgrades average $1.15 a gallon nationally, 17.5 cents cheaper than last November. Self-serve premiums are averaging $1.20 a gallon nationally, down 17.1 cents from last year.
AAA Cincinnati says Ohio averages are even lower:
- $1.01 a gallon for regular.
- $1.11 a gallon for midgrade.
- $1.18 for premium gasoline.
At some Greater Cincinnati gas stations, prices have dipped below a dollar for a gallon of regular gasoline.
"Locally, it's a price war with the individual service stations," said Michael Ziepfel, spokesman for AAA Cincinnati. "They're trying to draw people in for the other services they sell."
Gas stations nationwide likely will be busy in the coming days. AAA expects 33.6 million Americans will drive at least 100 miles from home this holiday weekend.
