Gas prices have declined for eight weeks in a row, giving motorists a savings bonus just in time for the holiday shopping season and reaching the lowest level for this time of year in nearly five years. The AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report pegged the national average for regular unleaded at $2.85 a gallon Thursday and said the price was below $3 at more than three-fourths of U.S. gas stations.
Related: Gas Price Decline Is Longest Since Recession Hit
AAA said the national average is poised to be the lowest for the Thanksgiving holiday since 2009, when it was $2.63 a gallon as a result of reduced demand due to the recession. The average price for regular unleaded has fallen 49 cents a gallon since the 56-day slide began on Sept. 25. AAA said the consecutive-day slide is the longest since 2008.
Compared with a year ago, regular gas is 36 cents cheaper, and at $3.25 premium is 31 cents cheaper. Diesel is 20 cents cheaper than on Nov. 20, 2013, at $3.61. How much are motorists saving? More than $1 billion a week compared with a year ago, and nearly $140 million each day, according to the Oil Price Information Service. For individual motorists —whose mileage and driving habits vary — the savings aren't as dramatic. A driver who uses 15 gallons of regular per week, for example, is spending about $5.40 less than at this time last year. On an annual basis, that is a savings of about $280 ? not enough to buy a new big-screen television (except maybe on Black Friday) but more than just pocket change for some.
What goes down typically will eventually come back up, but the federal Energy Information Administration says that may not happen any time soon with gas. The EIA recently predicted that oil prices will average $83 a barrel during 2015 and that gas could stay below $3 for the entire year.
U.S. oil was trading at around $75 a barrel early-Thursday, near a 52-week low and well off the 52-week high of $103.66 set June 25. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to meet Thanksgiving Day, and if OPEC decides to cut production that could reverse the recent slide in oil and gasoline prices. Meanwhile, the price of gas continued to inch downward in most parts of the U. S., with regular unleaded falling 7 cents over the past week. Regular unleaded averaged less than $3 in 38 states on Thursday and was under $2.75 in 14 states.
South Carolina had lowest statewide average, at$2.60, followed by Missouri, $2.62, and Mississippi, $2.63. The highest-priced gas was in Hawaii, where the statewide average for regular unleaded was $3.93. Alaska was next-highest at $3.57, followed by New York at $3.22. Some of the biggest price declines over the past eight weeks have occurred on the West Coast. The average for regular unleaded has fallen 60 cents in California to $3.12; 63 cents in Washington to $3.10; and 67 cents in Oregon to $3.06.
AAA graphic
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