U.S. gasoline price marks biggest drop ever: survey

[UpInArms]

Source: Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - 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.

<snip>

Meanwhile, travel on all U.S. roads fell 3.6 percent, or nearly 10 billion vehicle miles in July, compared with the same period last year, according to the most recent figures provided by the Transportation Department. It was the ninth straight month of declining driving activity.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49B38D20081012?sp=true

---

well, color me not surprised.

We knew the price would drop as the election loomed closer - because once again the oil companies and their puppets are hoping we have very short term memories and won't kick all of their oil buddies to the curb on November 4

[Warpy]

1. They're also trying to help the car companies

move those guzzlers off the lot because that will drive demand in months to come.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

2. Can there be any doubt who Big Oil would like to see in the White House?

[geckosfeet]

3. Anyone else notice the inverse relationship with the price of gas and

joHn mcLame's poll standings?

They are pulling out all the stops,,,,

[DJ13]

4. Whee! It went from $1.60 up to $4.60 now back to $3.30

What a bargain!

[Xipe Totec]

7. We're saved!

Than you, Mr. Super Gigantic Hero for Life President!

What could we have done without you?

Oh, what we could have done without you...


Jan 20, 2009, can't come a moment too soon...

[Purveyor]

5. Our local mid-michigan price is down to $2.92 and our locals have been

taking advantage of it.

We live in a scenic recreation area, with the trees just now starting to get colorful, and I witnessed the most traffic seen on our road all year.

Didn't hurt that the weather was beautiful all weekend, either.

[llmart]

13. It could be that.....

there are a lot of people like me who didn't get a vacation this year - we normally do - and they see winter fast approaching and want to take a short weekend trip up north to see the colors just to say they've gotten away from the house and gone somewhere different.

I'm going tomorrow albeit not too far north.

And, yes, could they be any more obvious?

[rxdem84]

6. The price of gas is falling and we haven't drilled anything. Oh

my, I can't believe it!! *rolls eyes* Obama/Biden 08!!

[not fooled]

22. But, but...

...according to the wingnuts, just the merest hint of increased drilling 10 years down the road is what caused the price drop!:sarcasm:

And all of that oil is going straight into gas tanks in the good ol' USA ONLY :eyes:

[Roland99]

8. Gas is still about 50-60 cents TOO high. Wholesale gas (RBOB) is down to $1.80/gal!!

At least here in Louisville, before this past spring, we averaged 40-60cents above wholesale at the pump. We're at $3.09 right now, not $2.40.

[ohio2007]

28. Don't let congress "help" remedy that situation in he next session. oooops

well, when they ( congress ) do us all a favor and TAX big oil,
the tax won't be allowed to be passed on to the consumer, right ?

lol

[Kalifornia.Kid]

9. $3.35 Unleaded

$3.35 per gallon in the San Francisco East Bay area.
$3.51 per gallon in the San Francisco City area.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

10. And the price on the energy market is...

presently, $1.85 a gallon.

[BearSquirrel2]

11. Bullshit!!!

The election is 22 days away and the forces at work to manipulate prices have been suspended until after the election.

My prediction, it will be $2.50/gal or less on Nov. 3.

[rocktivity]

12. Candidate for this month's "You Call This NEWS?" Award

During the '06 election, I won a bet that gas would fall below $2 a gallon, and sure enough, the day before election day, I was able to take a pic of a gas station selling regular for $1.98 a gallon. I'm predicting it will hit below $2.50 this year.


rocknation

[Regret My New Name]

16. Back around Nov '06 I recall seeing gas for around 1.98ish

but at that time I just moved to Texas from NY so I can't say what it was before that...

[all.of.me]

19. On two of the pueblos in northern NM today, it was 2.79, down from 2.89 on Thursday.

Other prices in the area were 3.13, 3.33, and 3.29 in my town, down from 3.49 Thursday, down from 3.69 just a few days before that.

[Imagevision]

14. Here we go again...! like the 06 elections gas in Fla. drops $.7-.9 cents per week - after the

election and 5-6 weeks later the gas prices not only went back up but they ended up being .10 cents more, and the oil companies claimed the election had nothing to do with it? Enjoy the price drop while you can, after Obama wins we lose on gas prices!

[not fooled]

23. Well, it's obvious, then...

...the solution to high gas prices is simply to hold an election once a month, so they are under continuous pressure to keep prices down! This would WORK, folks :)

[ohio2007]

25. We're being set up for a gas tax to pay for the $1 trillion bailouts

by the oil speculators.
Think Pelosi will be talking gas tax during the lame duck session ?

lol
We will know in one month.

[benld74]

15. Gas prices will wind up exactly where THEY want it to

[AlphaCentauri]

17. someone out there don't want to move forward to green energy n/t

[KatyaR]

18. I filled up early Saturday evening--

$2.459 for regular unleaded. Two weeks ago it was $3.179--a SEVENTY-TWO CENT drop in two weeks. It's actually as low as $2.299 in some parts of Oklahoma City.

[Imagevision]

20. Repug - Oil companies election tactic...!

[PADemD]

21. Yes, but what about heating oil? Has that dropped, too?

[jkappy]

32. Dropped from 4.20 to 3.85 here

The purchasing of oil is kind of like playing the market these days... how long to hold out? maybe the answer is freeze till Election Day, but not a day longer.

In some parts of Vt., companies won't take cash, without first subjecting the buyer to a credit check. What sh-t.

[PADemD]

34. It's not yet time for an oil delivery for me, but I'm still paying

an extra $140 a month over last year's budget plan.

[ohio2007]

24. OPEC fears the "Drill here,drill now" crowd. Lets all be lulled back into a false sense of security

what with the price of gas dropping, it's not financially worth the hassles of drilling here,drilling now anyway
:sarcasm:

[du_grad]

26. NW Ohio well below $3

http://www.toledogasprices.com/

Prices south of Toledo are now at $2.44/gallon.

[ohio2007]

27. Oil, soy, copper all go bust in Latin America ( yes, the 'supply side' is taking a hit ) and just

how did the US election do this ?

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) - The booming prices for Venezuelan oil, Brazilian soy beans and Chilean copper that brought prosperity to Latin America are heading for a bust that threatens to erode the hard-won gains of its poor and newly emerging middle class.
The global financial meltdown is cooling demand for commodities, the engine that fueled more than a decade of growth and erased generations of suffocating international debt.

snip

The hardest-hit countries are likely to be oil-reliant Venezuela and Mexico, analysts say. Both draw more than 40 percent of their federal budgets from oil, which has dropped more than 45 percent to hover around $80 a barrel since hitting a record high of $147.27 on July 11.

Venezuelan officials insist they'll keep funding President Hugo Chavez's sweeping social programs, which have paid for everything from free eye surgeries for poor Latin Americans to cheap home heating oil in the U.S. Northeast.

And while Venezuelan Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez warned of "significant restrictions" in next year's budget, the only examples he gave were to slash parties, cars and cell phone use by government workers.

A commodities collapse "could put Chavez and all his massive expenditures in a very tight skirt," said David Fleischer, a political scientist at the University of Brasilia.

Meanwhile, in Mexico, America's third-largest oil supplier, falling crude prices have pushed the peso to record lows, prompting the Central Bank to auction $8.9 billion in reserves this week to stem the decline.

snip
"When the boom passes, you've partied away all the money you've earned over the last two years, and you're back in misery again," he said.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93NSF880&show_article=1

any thoughts as to why this swinging sword of Damocles is punishing the third world ?
:shrug:
because of the US election ?

lol

"Turn out the lights...... :party:

you gotta conserve energy....
jmo

[CLG_News]

29. LOL! It's the 'pre-election' gas sale that takes place every October...

in an 'election' year, to aid the GOP.

[Mudoria]

30. Paid $3.59 a gallon for 89 octane this morning here

in the great state of North Carolina (Piedmont section btw). After continually reading about how much gas prices have fallen across the country why do I get the feeling me and my fellow Tar Heels are getting screwed?

[mbperrin]

33. You are, along with us in west Texas. I paid $3.87 this morning

for self serve regular unleaded....

[MadinMo]

31. $2.46/gal in SW Missouri -- yesterday.

It has been falling a few cents every couple of days, so I'm not certain what it is today.

AMAZING.

But I feel fairly confident this is all tied to the election, somehow.

[4dsc]

35. So what, I'm still conserving..

I will never return to the days of wasting gasoline because it was cheap.. Instead I think of all the money I'm not sending BIG OIL and keeping in my pockets!! I would hope American's don't return to their wasteful ways but we all know the short attention span they have..