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Nebraska and Iowa motorists have seen prices at the pump drop more than 40 cents a gallon in the past month — and the next couple of weeks could bring even more good news.

Motorists nationwide have benefited from a trifecta of sorts, said Rose White of AAA Nebraska. The demand for gas has eased following the summer travel season, gas supplies are plentiful and crude oil prices are down.

Even superstorm Sandy, which wreaked havoc on the lives and routines of many East Coast residents, conspired to bolster fuel supplies by knocking out power at gas pumps and canceling thousands of airline flights. In fact, White said, AAA's national office reported that fuel consumption has declined by 1 million to 2 million barrels per day since the hurricane came ashore.

Some Nebraska and Iowa cities and their recent prices for a gallon of regular unleaded:
City	Monday	Week ago	Month ago
Omaha	$3.32	$3.33	$3.76
Lincoln	$3.43	$3.47	$3.80
Des Moines	$3.25	$3.30	$3.79
Cedar Rapids	$3.33	$3.43	$3.75

 

In the past month, the average price nationally for a gallon of regular unleaded has dropped 40 cents, from $3.80 to Monday's price of $3.40.

For Nebraska, the slide is 42 cents a gallon in the past month, from $3.81 to Monday's $3.39. The average price a week ago was $3.44 a gallon.

Iowa's average has dipped 44 cents a gallon, from $3.77 a month ago to Monday's $3.33. A week ago, Iowa's average was $3.38 per gallon.

Nebraska and Iowa are among the 10 states that have reported the steepest price declines, White said. Other nearby states in the top 10 are Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Prices at the pump are expected to continue to drop ahead of the Thanksgiving travel period, White said.

“We expect retail pump prices to continue to decline to reflect falling crude oil prices and commodity prices for processed unleaded fuel,'' she said. “We are also seeing a wider disparity between the pump price for ethanol fuel and regular unleaded fuel. At some fuel outlets in Nebraska, the price savings on ethanol is more than 15 cents a gallon.”

On Monday, the ethanol price was $3.16 a gallon in Omaha and $3.08 a gallon in Council Bluffs.

The latest Lundberg Survey said regular unleaded prices could fall another 10 cents to 20 cents in the coming weeks. The price drop from Oct. 19 to Nov. 2 was the biggest two-week decline since December 2008, according to Lundberg, an independent market research company.

Thanksgiving travel demand, however, could cause prices to rise a bit “if supplies get tight,'' White said. “But right now, we're sitting on plenty of fuel.''

This report includes material from Bloomberg News.