Gas prices fall in Las Vegas, but analysts expect Middle East war could destabilize oil market

Greg Haas
·2 min read

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — It took a few weeks, but gasoline prices in the Las Vegas valley are dropping, down just over 25 cents per gallon since last week.

Sinclair, Costco and Sam’s Club are selling gas for $4.35 or less, with the cheapest price in town at Sinclair’s 4480 E. Cheyenne Avenue: $4.29 per gallon.

GasBuddy’s survey of 649 stations in the metro Las Vegas area shows the average price has dropped below $5 for the first time in weeks. The average price is now $4.96 per gallon.

Analysts have been expecting the drop, but they caution that a war in the Middle East will have an impact on prices at some point.

“At long last, the decline in gas prices that we’ve been waiting to see has arrived, and the locomotive of falling prices has only recently started on a downhill, gaining momentum. However, some new caution signs have emerged with the recent attacks on Israel, potentially destabilizing a sensitive region,” according to Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

“Even with oil prices rising as a reaction to the attacks, I remain optimistic the national average could decline another 25-45 cents by late November, with prices falling potentially nearly triple that in California,” De Haan said.

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Across the state, the average price was $4.92, down 18.6 cents from last week. And around the region, drivers in California are still paying more. GasBuddy’s survey shows stations in San Bernardino selling for an average of $5.82 per gallon, down 23.7 cents from last week. Riverside is at $5.81 per gallon.

Prices in Las Vegas are 41.0 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and 42.7 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 4.0 cents in the last week and stands at $4.48 per gallon.

“Even the price of diesel has seen downward pressure with oil prices plummeting last week on fears that the Fed will be forced to continue raising rates, eating into demand growth, leading a barrel of crude to drop into the mid-$80s, but we remain concerned about a potentially destabilized Middle East and the potential impact to oil prices should the region see violence escalate.”

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