We’re still just 25 cents shy of the all-time gas price record for the Austin metro area, but the price for a gallon of regular unleaded dropped nine cents from this time last week.
The latest fuel price report from AAA Texas says gas is selling for an average $3.72 in the Austin-San Marcos region. That compares with $3.81 last Thursday. The highest recorded average price was $3.975 back in July 2008.
Nationally, gas prices dropped 12 percent over the last week. Bloomberg News says that’s the sharpest one week decline since November 2008.
“Having prices go down undeniably is better than their going up,” Gary Langer, president of Langer Research Associates LLC in New York, which compiles the index for Bloomberg, said in a statement. “There may be relief in sight.”
One analyst, Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service, told the LA Times that he expects gas prices to sink to a national average of around $3.50.
He added that the sharp drop should fuel concerns that the dramatic rise in prices that began last September was driven more by Wall Street speculation than by supply and demand. Gasoline supplies were ample through the recent price jump, he said. "For those of us who have watched a long time, this was a combination of hysteria and euphoria for the speculators," Kloza said. "You had the panic mentality of the crowd, who collectively acted like blockheads."
