There’s no doubt the price of gasoline is always a concern with RVers. Whether making a cross-country journey, jumping around to different campsites, or even staying put in your favorite seasonal spot, you want to get the best price on gas.

Thanks to the dawn of smartphones, we now have access to a gazillion apps that can do everything from help us tie our shoes (just kidding, but seems like it!) to saving you money on gas.

The SmartFuel app was created by Iridium Development and is currently available for iPhone and iPad users via download from the iTunes app store. According to their website, they are working on a compatible app for Android and other smart devices. There is a free 30-day trial and respectable six or 12 month usage fee option thereafter.

To calculate fuel cost savings, there is some initial tweaking required to adjust your tank size and usage rate, but for the most part the app is easy to use. Especially if you just want to find the nearest station with the cheapest gas. We gave it a shot, and lo and behold, the best price was at a station we always figured to be expensive!

The SmartFuel app pulls in real-time pricing for more than 130,000 gas stations from the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) database. With a million updates daily from the database, Iridium claims that the app is highly accurate. They further state that inaccuracies occur only when a gas station’s procedure fails to update pricing to the OPIS.

Besides finding the cheapest price on gas, the app also features station cleanliness ratings, trip customizations, and bookmarking settings for your favorite RV refueling (and even potty) stops. Give the SmartFuel app a whirl!

Federal Government Predicts Gasoline Will Remain Cheap This Summer

The following is a reprint of an Associated Press story by Josef Hebert that was picked up and reprinted by newspapers and blogs across the country.

Despite the dismal economy, motorists may want to take to the road this summer. The federal government says gasoline prices are expected to stay relatively low.

The Energy Information Administration on Tuesday projected regular-grade gasoline to average $2.23 a gallon during the April-through-September driving season. The monthly average is likely to peak at $2.30 a gallon. That’s still a bargain compared to last summer, when gasoline cost an average of $3.81 a gallon and soared for a time past $4.

The report also said U.S. crude oil production declined by 110,000 barrels a day last year because of Gulf Coast hurricanes, but should rebound by an additional 440,000 barrels to 5.4 million barrels a day this year, the first increase in domestic production since 1991.

In recent weeks gas prices have edged higher from their lows in December. Last week gasoline average $2.05 a gallon. The energy agency attributed the increases to slightly higher crude oil costs and refiners trying to recoup some profits.

The EIA report projects crude oil prices to average $53 a barrel this year, but to increase by about $10 a barrel in 2010. But it said a stronger-than-expected economic recovery, lower global production or “more aggressive action to cut production” by the OPEC oil cartel “could lead to a faster and stronger rise in oil prices.”

Despite the drop in crude prices as well as cheaper gasoline, U.S. consumption of petroleum products, mainly gasoline and diesel, is forecast to decline for a second year in a row because of the economic downturn, the report said.

It said consumption declined by 6.1 percent last year, compared with 2007, in part because of the high cost of fuel in the first half of the year, and is expected to drop another 2.2 percent this year, or by 430,000 barrels a day. An expected economic upturn will increase demand in 2010 by 1.4 percent, the report said.

There should be plenty of gasoline available this summer. Refinery production is projected to increase by about 240,000 barrels a day compared with last summer. Total gasoline stocks as of April 1 were slightly less than last year at this time, but higher than the five-year average.

More ethanol will be blended with gasoline this year, as required by law. The EIA said an average of 670,000 barrels a day of ethanol to be blended, compared to 635,000 barrels a day last summer.

Still, the EIA said the growth of ethanol plant capacity will slow dramatically in 2009 as lower gasoline prices depress profits in ethanol production and the constraints in the financial markets curtail plant construction plans.

The OPEC nations have just announced another cut back in production by 2.2 million barrels for a total of 4.2 million barrels since summer. This is putting gas prices down to around $1.69 per gallon here in Vermont at the pump. This is compared to over $4.39 a gallon last summer. This will be a big savings to all of us.

This past year a lot of my friends and acquaintances took their RVs to a piece of land or a campground and parked it for the summer. Others I know moved around on weekends or for a week here or there, but just didn’t go as far. I, for one, will take advantage of the lower fuel prices this camping season by trying to put on as many miles on I can.

With high fuel prices still fresh in my memory, I will try to be as economical as possible. I intend to make sure my coach is tuned up at its best performance. Make sure my tire pressure is right. I will not over load my coach and anything else I can think of. I believe it is important to do what we can to keep OPEC from raising production again, giving them the chance to make our price at the pump rise again. If we can conserve and still enjoy our coaches this will keep OPEC from doing it to us again.

I think we cannot afford to let OPEC continue to do this to us anymore by reducing production, our prices go down at the pump, and then when we start using more, they raise production and price. We need other sources of fuel and we need it now.

Let’s hear from you on this subject. How will your RVing differ from this summer compared to last because of the fuel price reduction?