October 14, 2014
NEW YORK — Gas prices have fallen below $3 a gallon at 43,000 U.S. gas stations, according to GasBuddy.com, or one-third of the stations it tracks.
And prices at the pump, already the lowest in four years, should continue to fall, said Tom Kloza, GasBuddy’s chief oil analyst. On Tuesday, he cut his forecast for the national average price this fall to between $2.95 and $3.10, from his previous call of $3.10 to $3.25.
October 14, 2014
NEW YORK — Gas prices have fallen below $3 a gallon at 43,000 U.S. gas stations, according to GasBuddy.com, or one-third of the stations it tracks.
And prices at the pump, already the lowest in four years, should continue to fall, said Tom Kloza, GasBuddy’s chief oil analyst. On Tuesday, he cut his forecast for the national average price this fall to between $2.95 and $3.10, from his previous call of $3.10 to $3.25.
The cheapest gas in the country, according to GasBuddy, is in Columbia, Mo., where the average price on Tuesday was $2.807 per gallon. It is one of four Missouri metropolitan areas among the 10 cheapest places for gas (the other three are St. Louis, Springfield and Joplin).
The average price nationwide is $3.176, it said, and the average price in 10 states is already under $3. The total could climb to 40 states in the coming weeks.
While gas prices usually drop in the autumn, this year’s decline is being accelerated by fears of a price war between members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers, Kloza said.
Oil prices have been falling since June amid concerns over sluggish demand in a weak global economy. On Tuesday, the International Energy Agency cut its 2014 oil demand growth forecast to its weakest in five years at the same time that output has been rising.
Light, sweet crude futures for delivery in November tumbled 2.4% early afternoon Tuesday to $83.69. Kloza said he sees “some stability on either side of $80” but cautions that “there are real fears out there that the price of crude oil could fall to $50, $60, $70 a barrel.”
For consumers, the slide in prices — the front-month contract has skidded by more than a fifth since its June high — should mean a further drop at the pump.
Prices on average have fallen by nearly 10 cents in the past week, according to GasBuddy.
“Wherever you are in the country, you’re going to see prices drop another 15 to 20 cents” per gallon, Kloza said.
Courtesy: MarketWatch
