Complain about a product or service

Gas Prices Follow Oil Down

Pump Prices Dip Below $2 in Some Spots

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

January 19, 2007

• Gas Prices Fall Below $2 a Gallon • Oil and Gas Supplies Rise • Gas Prices Accelerate Their Decline • Gasoline Prices Down 19 Cents in a Week • Charlotte Gas Stations Make Refunds to Consumers • Oil Snaps Back As Markets Sense Post-Election Bounce • Gas Prices Settle Still Lower for Weekend • Gasoline Prices Keep Falling • Gas Below $3 Nationwide • Average Gas Price Down to Nearly $3 a Gallon • Gas Prices Drop, Along With Oil • Gas Prices Head Lower as Economy Slows • Gas Price Declines for 9 Days • Gas Prices Continue Downward Trend • Oil Prices Surge By Record $25 a Barrel • Gas Prices Drop for 5 Days • Price-Gouging Probes Spread to 6 States • Investigations of $5 Gas in North Carolina, Florida, and Virginia • Shortages, Price Hikes Follow Ike in Southeast • States Investigate Gasoline Price Gouging Claims • Pumping More U.S. Oil Won't Lower Prices, Consumer Group Says • Oil Prices Fall, Gas Prices Surge • Gas Prices Slide 8 Percent from Record --- • More ...

The U.S. Energy Department projects that the retail price for regular unleaded gasoline could drop close to $2 a gallon across the country by late January or early February from the current national average price of $2.20.

Crude oil prices are down 16 percent so far this year and gasoline prices seem to be following, if only slowly.

"Given this time lag, it is fairly straightforward to project the direction of prices over the next week or two. That said, prices may continue to fall nationally, such that they could get close to $2 per gallon by late January or early February," the Energy Information Agency said in its weekly review of the oil market.

Drivers in parts of the Midwest are already enjoying gasoline prices below $2 a gallon, with some cities close to $1.90.

Demand for petroleum in the U.S. declined last year below 2004 levels, according to a new report from the American Petroleum Institute, the lobbying arm of the oil industry.

Despite the dip in demand, U.S. refineries and blenders produced record amounts of gasoline and distillate fuel oil in 2006, another factor suggesting prices ought to continue to head down.

The price of a gallon of regular gasoline is down 11 cents in the last month at $2.20. Midgrade sells for $2.33 and premium $2.41.

One year ago a gallon of regular gasoline cost $2.31.

The most expensive gallon of regular gasoline is now found in Kailua Kona, Hawaii at $3.10 and the cheapest gallon can be had in Jackson, Missouri for $1.69.

Here is a look at some gasoline prices from around the country in the ConsumerAffairs.com Gas Price Round Up.

Texas: Retail gasoline prices continue to fall across Texas, according to the weekly AAA Texas gas price survey.

Regular, self-serve gasoline is selling for an average of $2.11 per gallon statewide, 6 cents less than last week.

"The key to lower prices will be if crude oil remains near its present level or moves even lower in the days and weeks ahead," said auto club spokeswoman Rose Rougeau. "Pump prices have steadily declined for the past three weeks of the new year."

The highest gas prices in the Texas survey this week were in the Austin area, where regular gasoline averaged $2.17 per gallon, down 4 cents from last week. The cheapest gas was in Corpus Christi, where it averaged $1.98 per gallon, down 8 cents from last week.

California: Crude oil prices continued to drop dramatically in the past week, while Southern California gas prices inched down a bit faster than the snail's pace of the previous week, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $2.57, which is nearly a nickel lower than last week, 2 cents higher than last month, and 12 cents higher than last year.

In San Diego, the price is $2.60, which is 6.6 cents below last week's price, 1.9 cents below last month, and 13 cents above last year.

On the Central Coast, the average price is $2.77, down 4.2 cents from last week, 1.4 cents below last month, and 17 cents higher than last year.

In the Inland Empire, the average price is $2.58, 4.8 cents below last week, 1.4 cents higher than last month, and 10.9 cents higher than last year.

"Oil industry analysts continue to state that the West Coast is an exception to the price break on fuel that the rest of the country is experiencing, due primarily to its isolation from the rest of the nation's distribution channels," said Auto Club spokesperson Carol Thorp.

"This week a fire occurred at a large Chevron refinery in the San Francisco area, and that incident reminds us that western states are dependent on a relative handful of large major-operated refineries, with little immediate access to global imports."

Illinois: Statewide averages for the price of gasoline in Illinois and northern Indiana have decreased substantially since last month and are at least 20 cents lower than at this time last year, according to the AAA Chicago motor club.

The automobile association's most recent Fuel Gauge Report estimates that in Illinois, regular unleaded gasoline has decreased 12 cents during the past month, forecasting an average cost of $2.19 per gallon for the month of January, which is 20 cents lower per gallon from last year, according to AAA Chicago.

"Crude oil prices have fallen more than $10 per barrel during the last month, which translates to relief for motorists with lower gasoline prices," Nicole Niemi, AAA Chicago spokeswoman, said. "The recent unseasonably warm weather has helped keep oil inventories high and gas prices on the decline."

In northern Indiana, gas prices average $2.09 a gallon, which is down 19 cents from December and down 31 cents from January 2006.

Ohio: Gasoline prices at local service stations have dipped to some of their lowest levels in two years.

At least two stations in the Dayton area were charging $1.74 a gallon for regular grade gas with several more charging between $1.75 and $1.76 a gallon.

The average local price stood at $1.84 a gallon, down 21 percent from $2.34 a year ago.

Florida: As gas prices slowly decline in the first weeks of 2007, an official with the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association said he thought regular unleaded gasoline could fall below $2 a gallon by the end of January, barring unforeseen circumstances.

AAA Daily's Daily Fuel Gauge Report shows the average Florida price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline at $2.28, down more than 4 cents from a month ago and 11 cents lower than the same date in 2006.

Randy Bly, a spokesman for AAA South, said he didn't know if the area would see a dramatic drop in gas prices, but he acknowledged some U.S. markets may fall below $2 soon.

“If oil stays around this level or drops further, we can expect to continue this downward trend,” Bly said.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Back to the top |