Lower gas prices across East Texas: The good and the bad

LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - You may have noticed gas prices are lower across East Texas this week. Most drivers are paying right around 2 dollars a gallon. We spoke to an economics professor at Stephen F. Austin State University about why that cost is falling.

A gallon of gas in Nacogdoches is a $1.99, in Lufkin it’s just over 2 dollars and in Tyler drivers are paying less than 2 dollars a gallon. The law of supply and demand is in full effect across East Texas.

“Right now, it is mostly that the price of oil has gone down. A lot of that has to do with what is going on in china. There is a concern in china about the coronavirus and that impact on their demand for oil,” SFA economics professor Dr. Steve Kosovich says. “One big trend is that new cars sales have been down a little bit, so people have been holding on to their cars longer than previously."

He says there are many reasons why the price of gasoline fluctuates.

“If there is an increase in demand because the economy is strong, that could be a good sign,” Dr. Steve Kosovich says. “Because worries about trade fights or Middle East policies, that could be a bad thing."

At the pump today, some drivers were taking advantage of the lower prices.

“I think it hurts, but it helps. The good of the need is better than the needs of the few,” a local consumer says.

Dr. Kosovich says that in Texas, lower prices aren’t always a good sign.

“At some point you do worry about oil prices going down far enough that it could potentially negatively impact employment and those industries and related industries."

The prices are low and it costs less to fill up, so motorists are encouraged to gas up while it lasts.

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