Lincoln average gas price drops below $2, Nebraska, $2.001

 4 comment(s)  
 E-mail Story
 Print Story
  Share

 digg it!
 Facebook
 del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit

Text Size: 

Tools Sponsor

By staff and wire reports

Gas prices continue to plummet across Nebraska and in Lincoln.

The average state price for a gallon of regular-grade hit the $2 mark for the first time in more than three years, and the average price in Lincoln dipped below $2.

AAA Nebraska’s Mitch Beaumont says the last time the state average was under $2 a gallon was February 2005.  On AAA’s Fuel Gauge Web site, the state’s average was listed Tuesday at $2.001.

[+]Enlarge

Of the seven Nebraska metro areas surveyed for AAA, Omaha had the lowest average. The state’s largest city recorded an average price just under $1.91 for regular on Tuesday. North Platte had the highest average of nearly $2.09 a gallon.

Lincoln’s average was $1.985, down from $2.017 on Monday, $2.853 a month ago and $3.149 a year ago.

The statewide average is down almost 80 cents from a month ago and $1.16 from a year ago. It’s also less than half the highest recorded statewide average of $4.10 set on July 15.

The national average Tuesday was $2.07.

Gas prices have ebbed and surged right along with oil prices, which hit a record of $147.27 a barrel in mid-July. They have since have fallen about 63 percent.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell 56 cents to settle at $54.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

But there were signs that plummeting gas prices have begun to bring American motorists back to the pump.

MasterCard SpendingPulse reported Tuesday that even though consumption of gas for the weekend ended Friday was down 2.8 percent from a year ago, it the smallest year-over-year decline in more than two months. Americans used nearly 1 million more barrels per day of gas for the week than they did the previous week.

``Demand destruction has definitely subsided significantly,'' said Michael McNamara, a vice president at MasterCard SpendingPulse.

The way the market is going, it’s unlikely even the Thanksgiving travel season could do much to reverse the downward trend, Beaumont said.

Thanksgiving pricing trends in the last three years have favored consumers, either dropping or remaining steady, he said.

AAA predicts lower Thanksgiving travel

The travel club said 41 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home. That's down from 41.6 million last year.

AAA President Robert L. Darbelnet said Tuesday that the economy makes Thanksgiving travel difficult for some Americans, but they will get help from the decline in gasoline prices.

A gallon of self-serve regular gasoline has fallen 88 cents in the past month, to $2.07 a gallon, nationally. A year ago, it cost $3.10 a gallon.

 Car rental prices are 4 percent higher than a year ago, but midrange hotel rooms are 10 percent cheaper, according to AAA.

 AAA, which said it surveyed 8,500 people, forecast that 80 percent of holiday travelers, or 33.2 million, will go by car. That would be a 1.2 percent decline from last Thanksgiving.

 The auto club expects 350,000 fewer Americans to travel by air, a 7.2 percent drop, to about 4.5 million. They will also pay more — average fares are 8 percent higher than a year ago, AAA said.

 Airline industry officials said, however, that flights will still be packed because there will be fewer of them.

   ———

On the Net:

AAA Fuel Gauge Report, http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/