The average regular gasoline price in the United States is at the lowest in almost four years, sliding down 18.18 cents over the two-week period from Oct. 10 to Oct. 24 to a per-gallon price of $3.0759.
According to information from the Lundberg Survey, which compiled the data from about 2,500 gasoline stations in the country, gasoline prices are lower by 28.69 cents compared with prices over the same period last year.
The average gasoline price is at its lowest figure since Dec. 17, 2010, due to the fact that the price of oil, making up 64 percent of the price of gasoline, has decreased by 24 percent from the peak that it reached earlier this year in June.
Oil prices have been pressured by the high global supply that has been able to meet the weak global demand over the past period of four months.
"The crude oil price crash has been passed through by refiners," said Lundberg Survey president Trilby Lundberg in an interview with Bloomberg.
Lundberg added that retailers could also be pressured to pass on price cuts worth a few more cents at gasoline stations within the coming weeks.
The highest average gasoline price among the states included in the survey was recorded in San Francisco, where the average gasoline price was $3.45 per gallon. The lowest average price, on the other hand, was in Memphis, Tenn., where the average gasoline price was only $2.73 per gallon.
The average gasoline price in Long Island, N.Y., was at $3.33 per gallon, while in Los Angeles, Calif., the average was $3.39 per gallon.
West Texas Intermediate crude, which serves as the benchmark of oil prices for the United States, decreased by $4.81 to $81.01 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange over the same period covered by the Lundberg Survey. The price actually went lower than $80 per barrel on Oct. 16, which last occurred in the month of June in 2012.
After speculation by analysts that prices had already reached the floor, oil prices rose only to drop back down after stockpiles increased in the country, falling to as low as $80.52 per barrel.
According to a research note by Bank of America Corp., the U.S. benchmark could reach as low as $75 by the end of 2014.
The oil output of the United States was recorded as 8.95 million barrels per day during the week including Oct. 10, which was the highest since 1985. Oil production in the country has risen by around 66 percent over the previous five years due to oil companies utilizing hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling methods to gain access to underground shale rock layers that are rich with hydrocarbon.
