Today’s fuel price musings - $3.50 gas by Labor Day?

August 8th, 2008 at 04:06pm Thomas V. Bona

Oil dropped $5 today, as the U.S. dollar rose and investors seemed to say “Well, the run was fun while it lasted.”

Could it be prices peaked? Oil’s at the lowest it’s been since early May, and even a major pipeline fire and rebel turmoil in Turkey can’t sent prices up. At its worst, the oil market jumped when the wind changed direction.

Gasoline has been creeping down, prompting James Cordier, president of Tampa, Fla.-based trading firms Liberty Trading Group and OptionSellers.com, to say, “We’re probably going to see gasoline at the retail level around $3.50 for Labor Day.”

For now, though, Road Ranger’s Web site is reporting gas prices going up today. No movement on our new Gas Tracker feature though. Check it out, and add prices you see. The more trackers we have, the better information we’ll have.

Here’s the situation in the metro area, state and nation (prices courtesy of AAAs fuelgaugereport.com):

Gasoline: Rockford dropped more than two cents this morning to $3.84 a gallon, down 36 cents from the record high July 16. We’re up to fourth in the state in gas prices, as some other markets dropped more. The Illinois average dropped less than a cent to $3.95. The national average dropped  more than a cent to $3.83. Illinois dropped to 13th-highest gas prices in the nation (including the District of Columbia).

Diesel: Rockford dropped more than three cents to $4.48 a gallon, down 33 cents in the past month. We have the ninth-highest (third-lowest) diesel prices in the state. The state average dropped more than two cents to $4.62, down 22 cents in the past month. The national average dropped more than two cents to $4.59, down 22 cents in the past month. Illinois has the 22nd-highest prices in the country (including the District of Columbia).

Entry Filed under: Fuel price musings