The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States recorded its largest drop ever as consumer demand continued to wane and oil prices slid, a prominent industry analyst said on Sunday.
The national average price for self-serve, regular unleaded gas fell 35.03 cents to $3.3079 a gallon on October 10 from $3.6582 two weeks earlier, according to the nationwide Lundberg Survey.
It was the lowest national average price since March 21, 2008. Since peaking at $4.1124 on July 11, the average cost of a gallon of gas has receded by 80.45 cents. Diesel fuel fell 21 cents to $3.95 a gallon, the first time since March that it has been below $4.00 a gallon.
It’s pretty pathetic that we’re getting all excited about gas dropping down near THREE DOLLARS A GALLON. Ugh.
Look, I’ll take any price-dropping that I can get, and I think I speak for a lot of people! One thing that I’ve noticed here where I live is that the prices are somewhat lower at places such as Circle K, where they sell a lot more than gasoline.
If I’m not mistaken, crude has dropped by almost 40% from its high, so why has gasoline only dropped 19%?
Connecticutian [#3]: Might the “high” to which you refer be a “spot price”—i.e., the price you must pay for immediate delivery? That price is much more volatile than what you’d pay under a longer-term contract. Most crude oil purchasers use contracts to lock in prices ahead of time. Thus they can meet most of their needs without relying on the spot market.
Note also that the price of gasoline includes refining and distribution costs plus excise taxes. Even when the price of wheat plummets, the price of bread does not fall proportionately.