Tagged: gas prices

For St. Louisans, there is one nugget of good news amidst the plunging Dow and struggling economy: gas prices are falling steeply in the St. Louis area.

Experts say the price of a barrel of oil dropped after Standard & Poor's lowered the nation's credit rating by one notch last week.

The price of gas fell below $3.20 per gallon at many stations in the St. Louis area on Monday. Just a little over a week ago, drivers shelled out more than $3.60 for a gallon of regular unleaded at some stores.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk says exploring natural gas supplies in Illinois and making tax credits for renewable energy permanent could be ways to lower soaring gas prices.

Kirk told reporters Monday that federal officials need to research possibilities for harnessing natural gas from New Albany shale in the Illinois basin.

The Republican also says he'd like to see permits granted more quickly for off shore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and reduce so-called small gasoline monopolies.

With lower state taxes on gasoline, among others, Missouri is easily undercutting its border mate, Illinois, when it comes to the price to fill up.

One of the cardinal rules about interstate travel through the Midwest: "gas up before you hit Illinois." Illinois levies a hefty 42 cents per gallon tax on gasoline, among the highest gas taxes in the country.

Check out more of this feature on the Missouri-Illinois border wars for cheap gasoline by our own Adam Allington. It aired on Marketplace Morning Report earlier today.