(WJBC file photo)
By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – The gasoline pump has been an instrument of pain for so long, you may have forgotten what it’s like to pay less than $3 a gallon.
Those times are back for the foreseeable future, says Bill Fleischli, executive vice president of the Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association and Illinois Association of Convenience Stores. “Oil production in this country is booming, and it would boom more if we’d build the Keystone pipeline,” he says. “The oil cartel has to cut production. The Asian demand has dropped off. The U.S. dollar is strong. And Libya and Iraq have calmed down from a political standpoint, and they’re on line.”
Fleischli says the gas prices in Illinois could stay in the $2.50-$3.00 range into the spring. The most recent AAA Fuel Gauge survey shows a state average of $2.64 and a national average of $2.60. For Illinois metro areas, Decatur is the cheapest at $2.38 and Chicago the most expensive at $3.04
