Allen Kitchens began selling gasoline in 1973 when the price of a gallon was $.36.

Today, at under $2 per gallon at most stations in the area, Vicksburg residents are enjoying gas prices lower than they have been in more than a decade.

Kitchens said they are going to go lower still.

“That’s a volatile market, but I think they are going to go lower. I don’t know how low, or how long prices are going to stay low. A fire could erupt at a refinery and gas prices would go back up. The market it too volatile to tell,” Kitchens said.

In fact, his wholesale price for gasoline actually increased a bit last week, “but that doesn’t mean a thing. It could go back down tomorrow,” he said. “You just can’t predict that. If I knew how low it was going to go, I’d play the futures market.”

Kitchens owns three businesses, all which sell gasoline — Bovina Grocery and Exxon at exit 11 off Interstate 20; BG Jr. Texaco, next to Pizza Inn on Clay Street; and Delta Discount Wine and Spirits and Chevron in Delta, La.

He’s sold gas at a high of almost $4 per gallon and said for an economy like Vicksburg’s, lower gasoline prices is only a positive thing for residents.

“I don’t think the layoffs and things in the oil industry are affecting Mississippi that much. Around here, the less people pay for gas, the more money they have to buy bread and milk and more groceries. You can actually see your inside sales go up as gas prices go down,” Kitchens said. “We have a lot of low income jobs in Vicksburg and Mississippi and lower gas prices do make a difference to how people live. The difference in $4 gas prices and the price of gas now means people have about $100 extra to spend that month, and they will spend it, mostly on better food to eat.”

Blake Nasif agrees. He and his family own Vicksburg Specialty Company, which supplies goods to convenience stores throughout Mississippi and Louisiana. His business is booming, thanks in part to lower gas prices, he said.

“When gas prices are low, store owners definitely see an increase in other sales. From what I hear, though, from the convenience stores I work with, they think gas prices are going back up. I’m not sure what they base that on, but that’s what they are saying,” Nasif said. “The higher the gas prices, the less the inside sales are. When somebody goes to the store and spends $10 on gas, they may go inside and buy a Snickers bar and a pack of cigarettes or something. But if they have to pay high prices for gas, they don’t even go inside the store.”