Students are filling up their tanks with less stress about how much money they are spending and more excitement about how much more they can do with the money they are saving since the drop in gas prices late last year.

Students that commute to school every day save more money, since filling up a tank does not take up as much of their money as it used to. With the discovery of a new oil source in the Gulf of Mexico, the amount of gas being produced has increased greatly. The surplus in oil made gas a less demanding necessity causing the value to decrease resulting in the cheaper prices. When it was suspected that America was low on oil in the past, the prices of gas ranged from $3.50-$4.00.

Senior Lorena Pedroza enjoys the price change because of how much she has to commute around the city. The cheaper gas price allows her to save an extra buck to her pocket. On the weekend she enjoys going on dates with her boyfriend, so this gives her more money to spend on her dates.

“I drive to school and I have a job that I drive to,” Pedroza said. “Even though my job is really close to school, it would still end up costing me a little more to go back and forth.”

Although it seems like a small savings compared to before, the difference in noticeable in the amount it takes to fill up a tank in automobiles, especially those that require more gas such as bigger cars and trucks.

Senior Jaime Garcia drives a G-wagon Jeep, which requires frequent fill-ups. Initially, Garcia would sped $50-$60 on a full tank of gas, but since the drop in gas prices he has noticed that he saves a significant amount of money.

“I used to spend so much money on gas,” Garcia said. “Now I can fill up my tank for about $10-$15 cheaper; it’s great.”

While the price of gas is much lower than before and seems to show a pattern of declining, the prices do fluctuate and rise every so often. The prices have stayed at a price no larger than $2.60 for about a month but prices recently have reached $2.90-$3.00.

Junior Mark Garza keeps track of gas prices when he fills up his gas tank and recently noticed the higher prices. Garza likes to save as much money as possible since he knows he will have to fill up his tank again soon.

“Gas prices have gone up,” Garza said. “I like to save the money that I would usually spend on gas for the next time I need to fill up my tank.”

The price of gas right now is just under $3.00 but is predicted to decline again soon. With the discovery of the new oil source, students can expect a low and affordable price to get a full tank of gas in their car.