By Al Sunshine, SouthFloridaReporter.com, Consumer Investigator, Aug 17, 2015 – Gas prices are dropping but very un-evenly. AAA says pump prices have reached lows approaching the height of our last recession. But in my neighborhood, “sticky prices” are still a problem and there’s a .30-Cent per gallon swing within blocks. I found gas nearby for about $2.49 a gallon.
Closer to home, the prices were as high as $2.79. That means some local stations are trying to juice extra profits out of the cheaper wholesale prices and NOT passing them along to customers.
Could Pump Prices get even lower? AAA says they could possible approach $2.10 a gallon. On the downside, energy stocks will continue to plummet, possibly depressing some markets. Look at critical “Back to School” spending as an early consumer barometer for 4th quarter holiday spending.
OIL REACHES LOWEST PRICE SINCE THE ‘GREAT RECESSION’
TAMPA, Fla. (August 16, 2015) — The price of oil is on its longest weekly slump of the year, after reaching the lowest closing price since the ‘Great Recession’. This continues to put downward pressure on the price of gasoline, which dropped another 2 cents last week in the southeastern U.S.
“There continues to be a surplus amount of oil in the global market which is expected to keep prices of both oil and gasoline on the low end through the rest of this year,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “Gas prices did not fall as fast last week as they have in recent weeks, but that is to be expected because we are still in the middle of the peak driving season. Gas prices should fall even faster in the fall when school is back in session.”
“In September 2008, in the midst of the Great Recession, the price of oil set a new record high of $120.92 a barrel. From there, it plummeted, reaching its low-point for that period of $33.87/b after only three months. During that time, the national average price for gasoline sunk from $3.74 to $1.67. This just proves how big of an impact oil can have on the price of gasoline. Though it is unclear just how low gas prices could go, history tells us that gas prices have the potential to drop below $2 a gallon when oil is as inexpensive as it currently is,” Jenkins said.