Gas Prices May Be Nearing a Bottom

CAMARILLO, Calif. — Sub-$2 prices per gallon at the pump in many states may not last much longer.

Falling fuel prices may be abating, according to Camarillo-based Lundberg Survey Inc., whose most recent survey revealed that the nationwide average price per gallon dropped to $2.0691. However, falling pump prices have lost steam recently, and gasoline prices may be about to bottom out, based on the Lundberg Survey of approximately 2,500 gas stations during the two weeks ended Jan. 23.

“In the past 10 days, the wholesale prices that gasoline marketers and retailers pay are up,” Trilby Lundberg, president of Lundberg Survey, told Bloomberg. “Retail prices will most likely be bottoming soon, if they haven’t already.”

The highest price for gasoline in the lower 48 states was found in San Francisco at $2.54 per gallon, Lundberg told the news outlet. Prices were also considerably higher than average in Los Angeles ($2.42 per gallon) and Long Island, N.Y. ($2.33 per gallon).

Conversely, the lowest price recorded during the survey period was found in Albuquerque, N.M., where customers paid an average of $1.73 per gallon.

West Texas Intermediate crude, considered the benchmark for U.S. oil pricing, plummeted by $2.77 (5.7 percent) to $45.59 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the two weeks ended Jan. 23. Prices for West Texas Intermediate have dropped 58 percent since June 20, the news source reported.