Gas prices fall below $2 in region

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LOCK HAVEN - Locally, statewide and nationally, we have at least one thing to be thankful for this season - gasoline prices have declined for the 70th consecutive day and are now 55 percent below the record high prices we saw last July.

According to the Associated Press, a national survey of credit card swipes at gasoline stations show gasoline falling below the $1.87 per gallon mark.

Can the region's prices be far behind?

At Flying J in Lamar the price of regular gas was $1.85 Friday morning, the lowest in the region. Most other area service stations are charging about $1.95 a gallon for regular gas.

Nationally, according to the motor group AAA, prices at the pump have dropped $1.223 per gallon from the record-high of $4.114 per gallon reached in mid-July.

A total of 38 states - including Pennsylvania - are recording prices below $2 a gallon.

At the Kwik Fill on Hogan Boulevard, Joseph Libby, a retired police officer from Philadelphia, was all smiles as he filled fill up his full-size pickup for a trip to his hunting camp in Cross Fork.

"It's all good," he said. "We all need a shot in the arm, and this is a good place to start. If the money's not going into the tank, it's going for food on the table ... Christmas presents or a new coat for the kids."

Libby said he filled his tank for $29, a full $10 less than he had been paying before the gas prices started spiraling down.

"They all say they're glad to see it," Kwik Fill clerk Steve Seyler said. "No $50 to fill up ... That's nice."

"I work in State College, so I'm saving about $60 a week in gas," said Jonni Neidrich of Beech Creek. "I like it, but I believe the prices are probably going to go up after the holidays."

Prices at the pump have been on a rollercoaster in 2008 with soaring prices finding their peak in Summer, AAA officials said.

Gas prices finally began to sink on Aug. 21, as oil prices saw their biggest drop in 17 years. On Sept. 16, crude prices began trending even lower.

The AAA figures, compiled by Oil Price Information Services, are state-wide averages based on credit card swipes at up to 100,000 service stations across the nation.

Other agencies have reported similar drops.

According to the Department of Energy, East Coast gasoline prices have gone from $2.27 per gallon on Nov. 10 to $1.54 on Nov. 24, a drop of 16 cents from a week ago, and a change of $1.14 from a year ago Monday.

The web site Facts.com indicates that statewide gasoline prices averaged $1.98 per gallon Thursday for regular fuel and $2.17 per gallon for premium. That compares to prices that were nearly $1 more on the same date last year.

According to GasBuddy.com, we're doing even better than that. The web site suggests the Clinton County average is $1.95 per gallon for regular gas, as compared to $3.096 per gallon a year ago this date.

The Associated Press reported that crude oil edged closer to $60 a barrel in New York futures trading Monday, and the Energy Department said that pump prices continued an unprecedented free fall from their all-time highs recorded this past summer.

The price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline fell 25.8 cents over the last week to a national average of $2.656, marking the first time all year that the price dropped below 2007 levels, according to the Energy Department's weekly survey of filling stations.

A year ago, the national average was $2.872 a gallon.

The decline, analysts said, aren't over yet. Some experts are predicting an additional 15 or 20 cent decrease before the prices stabilize.

And while gas prices alone aren't going to probably jump-start the economy, financial experts say the lower fuel costs could have a trickle down impact to the prices consumers are paying for other commodities.