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Murphy Express and EZ-GO both started selling regular unleaded gasoline for $1.91 a gallon Tuesday night at their stations near 84th and Adams streets.

Within a few hours, several other stations all over Lincoln had dropped prices as low as $2 a gallon. Those stations had been selling gas for anywhere from $2.19 to $2.25 a gallon earlier in the day.

Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, said his data showed the Murphy Express and EZ-Go stations went back and forth lowering prices throughout the day Tuesday before settling on $1.91 a gallon.

"It looks like kind of a price war between the two stations," he said.

Murphy Express opened recently near the northeast Lincoln Wal-Mart at 3301 N. 85th St. The EZ-GO is at 8411 Windmill Drive.

DeHaan said there are no conditions he's aware of either regionally or nationally that would have led to prices in Lincoln dropping 20 to 30 cents in a matter of hours.

Mark Whitehead, owner of U-Stop convenience stores in Lincoln, agreed that it looks like a price war to him.

He said retail prices in Lincoln have been driven below wholesale costs as station owners compete to stay even with each other.

"Only time will tell how long this will last," Whitehead said in an email. "The consumer is getting a great deal right now."

That deal got even better Thursday morning, as Murphy Express upped the ante by lowering prices even further.

According to GasBuddy, the station was selling regular unleaded for $1.82 a gallon Thursday morning.

According to AAA, the average price of gas in Lincoln on Thursday was $2.17 a gallon. That was down 7 cents from Wednesday and 13 cents from Tuesday. The city's average price was 13 cents lower than the state average and 17 cents lower than the national average.