Motorists rejoice, at least for now. The price of gasoline in the United States is at lowest level since Apr. 2009.
In the past two weeks, the average price of U.S. gas declined 13.3 cents, which is a six-year low, according to a new Lundberg survey published Sunday. In the survey marked Jan. 23, the price for regular grade gas fell to $2.07 per gallon.
However, the dramatic end of the continual plummeting may soon come to an end. Trilby Lundberg, the publisher of the survey, told Reuters that the recent drop in prices at the pump was less emphatic than at other times when records were shattered. This may be a sign that drivers could expect higher gas prices in the near future.
According to Lundberg, one of the key factors is the cost wholesale customers have been paying has actually risen in the past 10 days. This suggests a bottom or a boost in retail gas prices. In order to reverse this trend, Lundberg believes there needs to be another significant downfall in oil prices.
During last week’s trading session, Brent and U.S. crude futures fell: the former closed at $48.79, while the ladder settled at $45.59.
In addition, the lowest price per gallon was situated in Albuquerque, New Mexico at $1.73, while the highest price per gallon was found in San Francisco, California at $2.54, the survey reported.
At the start of the Monday trading session, the price of oil traded higher because of a comment from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem el-Badri reportedly said that with oil barrel prices ranging between $45 and $55 that a rebound may be happening very soon.
He confirmed what many analysts have been saying for quite a while: oil producers won’t be investing in new operations because it’ll become too expensive and then the supply will diminish again. “Maybe we will go to $200 if there is a real shortage of supply because of the lack of investment. We will see how the market behaves at the end of the first half of 2015.”