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Gas Prices Plunge 33% In A Month

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By RUSSELL RAY

rray@tampatrib.com

Published: November 4, 2008

TAMPA - Pump prices in Tampa continue to tumble, and industry experts say the trend is expected to continue, although further price declines won't be as dramatic as they have been recently.

In one month, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded in the Tampa Bay area has plummeted 33 percent, or $1.20, to $2.41, AAA reported Monday. The average price in the Bay area fell three cents overnight Sunday, AAA reported.

A year ago, Bay area retailers were charging, on average, $2.93 a gallon for the same grade of fuel.

The price declines are happening, in part, because Americans are driving less and buying less fuel amid a troubled economy, and that trend should push prices even lower, said AAA spokesman Gregg Laskoski.

"In the weeks ahead, we still expect retail gasoline prices to go lower, but we also expect the rate of decline to diminish," Laskoski said.

In some parts of the country, prices have dipped below $2 a gallon. For example, a gallon of regular gas was averaging $1.98 in Tulsa and $1.95 in Kansas City, AAA said Monday. The most expensive gas can be found in Hawaii, where prices were averaging $3.35 a gallon.

In the Tampa Bay area, retailers were charging between $2.18 and $2.49 for a gallon of regular unleaded, according to gasbuddy.com, which uses volunteers to track the lowest and highest pump prices in markets nationwide.

Lower gas prices also stem from a sharp decline in the cost of crude oil, the starting point of nearly all transportation fuels. Since July 11, when oil reached a high of $147.27 a barrel, oil has plunged 54 percent to about $64 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870.

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