Gas price drops below $4 gallon on Long Island, AAA tracker says

The average price of gasoline at a pump on Long Island has dipped below $4 a gallon for the first time since March, according to a tracker by AAA.

The average is $3.999 for regular in Nassau and Suffolk counties, AAA reported on its website Saturday morning.

It was $4.019 a day earlier, $4.113 a week ago, $4.502 a month ago — and $3.212 a year ago. It hit a high of $5.046 on June 11 and June 15, according to a tally kept by Newsday.

The last time gas cost less than $4 a gallon was March 3, when it was $3.910.

In March, AAA published a survey of drivers, asking them to name their "pain point" — the gas price at which they'd need to curtail spending elsewhere. About 60% put that number at $4 a gallon, said Robert Sinclair, spokesman for AAA Northeast.

Primarily, the drivers said, they'll drive less.

"They'll have to make changes in lifestyle to be able to afford higher gas prices: they're going to drive less, they're going to not eat out as much, if at all, they're going to put off making a major purchase like an appliance, save less money, things like that," he said Saturday morning.

Earlier this month, U.S. crude futures fell below $90 a barrel, to $89.80 a barrel, for the first time since February, the month that Russia invaded Ukraine.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 54% of the cost of regular gasoline is attributed to crude oil prices, with 18% refining costs, 17% distribution and marketing and 11% taxes.

Dan Dicker, a longtime energy trader and expert on oil prices, said oil refineries had finally upped their supply and staffing — to meet pent-up post-pandemic demand — coupled a bit, paradoxically, with a decline in how much people are driving due to higher gas prices.

"The refineries are catching up with the demand that came out of the pandemic," he said.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.