Chicago Gas Prices Fall In June, For The First Time In Eight Months

Chicago-area drivers finally saw a little relief in June, as gas prices fell for the first time since October of 2010.

The price of the average gallon of gas in Cook County fell from $4.50 to $4.28, a six percent decline. But it's still astronomically more expensive than it was this time last year: gas cost exactly $3.00 a gallon in Cook County in June of 2010.

Nick Jarmusz of AAA Chicago told ABC-7 that some supply chain problems had been contributing to the elevated prices of gas:

"We have seen some problems with the distribution of refined gasoline. There was a refinery down in Joliet that had maintenance issues so it slowed down its production. There was also an issue with the pipeline that comes down from Canada and feeds our local refineries and that caused a little bit of a shortage in the available supply of refined gasoline."

Prices in surrounding areas were significantly lower: gas was only $4.09 a gallon in DuPage County, and a tantalizingly low $3.88 per gallon in Lake County, Indiana.

According to a story in the suburban Daily Herald, the cheapest gas in Chicagoland was, oddly enough, at the Sam's Club on Oakton Street in Des Plaines, Illinois, where gas cost only $3.98 a gallon.

Chicago's gas prices are still the highest in the U.S., seven cents more expensive than gas in Anchorage, Alaska, the city with the second-priciest pumps according to GasBuddy. But with fuel prices traditionally going up in the summer, a 25-cent drop is welcome respite to any Chicagoan in a car.