The average price of regular gasoline at U.S. pumps slid to the lowest level since May 15, 2009, dropping 24.68 cents in the two weeks ended Dec. 19 to $2.4713 a gallon, according to Lundberg Survey Inc.
Prices are 79.05 cents lower than a year ago, according to the survey, which is based on information obtained at about 2,500 filling stations by the Camarillo, California-based company. The latest plunge in crude oil prices may lead to a further decline at the pump by a few more pennies, according to Trilby Lundberg, the president of Lundberg Survey.
Retail gasoline fell after crude prices dropped for the fourth consecutive week amid increasing production and weaker-than-expected global demand. Slumping prices at the pump will save U.S. households $550 next year, the Energy Information Administration said.
“It is a dramatic boon to fuel consumers,” Lundberg said in a telephone interview. Gasoline “is a modest portion of our giant gross domestic product and yet it does have a pervasive and festive benefit to motorists.”
The highest price for gasoline in the lower 48 states among the markets surveyed was on Long Island, New York, at $2.82 a gallon, Lundberg said. The lowest price was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where customers paid an average $2.06 a gallon. Regular gasoline averaged $2.74 in Los Angeles.
Dan Murtaugh & Jessica Summers | Bloomberg