Gas prices at $2 a gallon became more commonplace last week as the price at the pump continued to fall.
The national average stood at $2.19 a gallon, with Delaware dropping to $2.05 and New Jersey, with its low gas taxes, dipping to $1.89, Wilmington-based AAA Mid-Atlantic reported.
AAA reported prices as low as $1.82 a gallon, across the bridge in New Jersey, with the GasBuddy.com site reporting prices as low as $1.93.
The Kirkwood Highway area between Elsmere and Newark continued to see the lowest prices, due to a larger number of independent stations. Market leader Wawa was keeping prices at around $2 at many stations.
Gas prices in the Rehoboth area were moving toward $2, with a number of stations in the Dover area seeing prices below the $2 a gallon mark.
The gas price reflects a drop of two cents per gallon week-over-week and 10 cents per gallon month-over-month. Pump prices remain significantly lower than this same date last year. The national average is down 81 cents a gallon.
“Falling crude oil prices and ample domestic supplies have kept pump prices moving lower over the past several weeks,” said Jana L. Tidwell, manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “These same factors are also likely to keep gas prices steady through the rest of the year.”
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil saw a two-month low in trading Tuesday ($42.58) and closed out at $46.59, down $1.99 on the week.
The state’s only refiner, PBF Energy Inc., owner of the Delaware City site, reported higher earnings as it benefitted from the lower crude oil prices and widely available supplies.
PBF is cutting shipments of more expensive light crude oil from North Dakota as it finds less expensive heavier grades.
The national average price could fall below the $2 per gallon benchmark before the end of the year for the first time since 2009, barring any unanticipated disruptions in supply or jumps in the price of crude oil, due to regional conflicts overseas.
Meanwhile demand for gasoline continues to dip and as does the threat of disturbances in the Gulf of Mexico as hurricane season comes to a close on November 30, AAA reported.
Large U.S. oil inventories and a stronger U.S. dollar will likely continue to drive the price of gas lower for the remainder of the year, AAA reported.
Further information is available from AAA’s Fuel Price Finder (AAA.com/fuelfinder). The fuel price finder employs formal surveys while GasBuddy uses reports from motorists.
