As we benefit from the lowest gas prices in five years, we would do well to recall how we got here.

Gas prices in the Mankato area have been around $2.65 to $2.70 a gallon, and experts say gas prices are the lowest nationally in five years, about 50 cents a gallon lower than a year ago.

The low gas prices didn’t just happen, although that seems to sometimes be the best explanation. Gas prices and crude oil prices are ultimately driven by supply and demand. And consumers can at the very least control demand.

That has been the case since 2008 when the Great Recession took hold. Consumers stopped driving as much, they bought lower mileage cars and cut back on buying airline tickets for family vacations. As a result, businesses used less fuel as well.

At the same time, the U.S. expanded its own domestic production of crude oil. Crude oil production in the U.S. is now running at 8.6 million barrels per day, a 60 percent increase from just four years ago, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. More gains are expected in 2015.

Part of the production increase came from an increase in drilling and more efficient drilling as well as new oil fields such as the Bakken fields of North Dakota.

But we’ve put in place some conservation measures on the demand side as well. The Obama administration set new higher fuel mileage standards for new vehicles a few years ago.

While a worldwide economic slowdown certainly can curtail use of crude oil and refined products, businesses have learned a new energy reality over the last few years. They’ve learned how to conduct business without using as much fuel.

Whole new industries that advise businesses about how to save energy are popping up. The demand for lower energy costs has become a growth industry. OPEC can’t even seem to get together on production quotas anymore.

Consumers have been key to getting lower gas prices and we’ll be key to keeping them low. Let’s not forget we are in the driver’s seat.

— Mankato Free Press, Dec. 3