USA TODAY: Already on a 23-straight-day slide, regular unleaded gas now averages $3.46 a gallon — the lowest national average since January, and 35 cents less than year-ago levels. Prices are expected to drop another 20 to 25 cents in the coming weeks.
Behind the fall: Record high refining in the U.S., shrinking consumer demand and slumping crude oil prices, says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for Internet website price tracker GasBuddy.com.
Crude squirted to two-year highs of $112 a barrel in August on fears that U.S. military intervention in war-torn Syria would disrupt global supplies. With Syrian intervention less likely and thawing tensions with Iran, a far bigger oil producer, crude oil prices continue to slump. Light, sweet crude eased 46 cents to $103.13 a barrel Tuesday. Wholesale gas prices for October delivery, now $2.66 a gallon, are 60 cents below August levels in some markets… (more)
