DeKALB | As the winter snow begins to fall, so do gas prices.

So far this January, the average price of gasoline is $2.26 per gallon, according to the Energy Information Administration.

“Production [of gasoline] is still fairly high,” said NIU Transportation Manager Bill Finucane.

Finucane said OPEC is thinking about reducing the volume of gasoline produced.

“Middle Eastern countries make limits on production per day to drive prices up,” Finucane said.

The price of gasoline is normally higher in the summer because the demand is higher, Finucane said. There are also more outdoor events and longer vacation trips in the summer than in the winter.

“Gasoline prices are usually seasonal. It reaches a peak around June or July and then drops off during winter,” said EIA senior economist Tancred Lidderdale. “Warm weather through the entire northern hemisphere lowered the demand for crude oil.”

Lidderdale said as a result of lower demand, the price dropped.

On Dec. 15, the price of crude oil was $56.94 per barrel. In January, the price of crude oil per barrel dropped as low as $48.20.

In January, the cost of crude oil per barrel has dropped from $54.63 to $48.20, according to the EIA. At this time last year, the price of crude oil per barrel was $58.02.

“We may see [the lower prices] for another week or two,” Lidderdale said.

Alternative fuels are making their way into today’s gasoline market.

“Almost every gallon of gas available in the U.S. has 10 percent ethanol,” Finucane said. “Twenty percent soy oil is blended into diesel fuel.”

Biodiesel fuel is made from soybeans, but can also be made from waste wood; ethanol can be made from corn or switchgrass.

“That’s part of the problem right now. There’s no set standard for the production of biodiesel,” Finucane said, “I think this is a temporary low. Fuel products are in a finite amount, so as resources start to dwindle, prices will go up.”

Extending the use of alternative fuels should be able to keep prices down, or at least slow the rise in prices, Finucane said.

“I think we need to stop thinking about how much gas costs and modify driving habits,” said Elizabeth Denton, post-graduate special education major.