An OnCue Express station in Oklahoma City was selling the motor fuel for $1.99 a gallon Dec. 3, becoming the first one to drop below $2 in the U.S. since July 30, 2010, Patrick DeHaan, a senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy Organization Inc., said by e-mail from Chicago.
鈥淲e knew when we saw crude oil prices drop last week that we鈥檇 break the $2 threshold pretty soon, but we didn鈥檛 know if it would happen inSouth Carolina, Texas, Missouri or Oklahoma,鈥 said DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for Gasbuddy. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 national average, $2.74, now makes the current price we pay a whopping 51 cents per gallon less than what we paid a year ago.鈥
Gasoline is sliding after OPEC decided last week not to cut production amid a global glut of oil that has already dragged international oil prices down by 39% in the past five months. Pump prices have fallen by almost a dollar since reaching this year鈥檚 high on April 26.
Fifteen percent of the nation鈥檚 gas stations are selling fuel below $2.50 a gallon, 鈥渁nd it may not be long before others join OnCue Express in that exclusive club that鈥檚 below $2,鈥 said Gregg Laskoski, another senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.
Retail gasoline averaged $2.746 a gallon in the U.S. yesterday, data compiled by Florida-based motoring club AAA show. Stations will cut prices by another 15 to 20 cents a gallon as they catch up to the plunge in oil, Michael Green, a Washington-based spokesman for AAA, said by e-mail.
