Gas prices expected to drop soon
Gas prices are advertised at two gas stations in Mill Valley, Calif., last week. A gallon of regular averaged $4.064 Wednesday in Nassau and Suffolk, according to the AAA. (July 29, 2011) Credit: Getty
Gasoline inched up by about a penny on Long Island in the past week, but recent declines in crude oil prices suggest relief is on the way, experts said Wednesday.
Regular averaged $4.064 Wednesday in Nassau and Suffolk, according to the AAA. Crude oil prices have dropped by about $8 a barrel in the past two weeks, settling at $91.93 a barrel Wednesday, mostly on bad news about the U.S. and European economies.
Andy Lipow, president of Houston consulting company Lipow Oil Associates Llc, says that should lead to lower pump prices, provided that supplies are not interrupted by unforeseen events such as hurricanes.
"Over the next couple of weeks we should see prices fall by up to 15 cents a gallon," he said.
A federally mandated switch in mid-September from summer gasoline to cheaper winter gasoline could bring prices down by another 5 to 10 cents, he said.
Said John Kilduff, a partner in the Manhattan-based energy hedge fund Again Capital, "I would look for a rapid 5- to 8-cent decline over the weekend."
MasterCard Advisors weekly SpendingPulse report issued Tuesday said motorists purchased 3.1 percent less gasoline, by volume, than a year earlier.
