Dec 7, 2008 6:58 pm US/Eastern
Gas Prices Continue To Tumble
Could Be A Dollar A Gallon In The Next Few Months
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TAMPA (CBS4) ―
Recessionary pressure has pushed the price of crude oil to a four year low and sent gas price nationwide tumbling.
On Friday, crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) dropped to $40.81 marking the lowest price level for crude since December 2004.
The decline in crude oil was triggered in part by the Labor Department's report of 533,000 job losses in November and an unemployment rate of 6.7%; the highest rate seen in 15 years.
In Florida, gas prices have dropped on average of 9 cents a gallon in the last week.
"Not surprisingly, the oil industry analysts who last week said crude oil "may test the $40 level before the end of the year" have revised that "40" to a "30" believing that the recession may push crude prices considerably lower," said Gregg Laskoski, Managing Director, Public Relations, AAA Auto Club South. "Generally speaking, for every $10 drop in crude oil's price per barrel, retail gasoline prices would be expected to fall by 25 cents per gallon. However, many oil industry experts now speculate that retail gasoline could go as low as $1 per gallon in many markets perhaps within a few months."
Nationwide, a regular unleaded is averaging $1.73 a gallon, in Florida it's a bit higher at $1.79 a gallon.
South Florida prices are higher than both the state and national averages. In Ft. Lauderdale, unleaded regular is averaging $1.84 a gallon, it's averaging Miami Dade it is $1.90 a gallon.
The Pensacola area is the cheapest place to buy gas in the state, regular unleaded is averaging $1.67 per gallon, West Palm Beach is the most expensive at $1.91 a gallon.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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