LI gas prices dip after holiday weekend

With the holiday weekend in the rearview mirror, gas prices on Long Island Tuesday were lower than a week ago, according to the AAA.

The average price for regular gasoline was $2.829 a gallon in Nassau and Suffolk Tuesday, down 2 cents from a week earlier, according to a survey of gas stations done for AAA.

The average on Long Island is 4 cents lower than a year ago, and 11 cents lower than a month ago.

Motorists may see gasoline prices continue to go down as the post-summer demand declines, federal analysts said.

But storms, especially on the Gulf Coast, could always wreak havoc on crude oil prices, said officials with the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The price of crude and other energy products retreated as fears about the global economy resurfaced following reports Tuesday that European banks may have more risky government debt on their books than previously thought.

Benchmark crude for October delivery fell 51 cents to settle at $74.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Abundant supplies of oil will pull prices down over the next two months, with fewer drivers on the road and the winter heating season still to come, MF Global analyst Andrew Lebow said.

Nationally, before the holiday weekend, gasoline prices had fallen for three weeks in a row to hit an average of $2.68, the lowest level of the 2010 peak summer driving season.

On longislandgasprices.com, a website that compiles motorist reports, customers Tuesday found prices for regular as high as $3.29 at two stations, in Syosset and Smithtown. The lowest price, $2.61, was reported at two stations in West Islip. 

This story was supplemented with reports from the Associated Press.