How low will it go?
Metro Atlanta motorists may be asking that question now that gasoline prices have fallen to their lowest mark since early in the year.
The cost of a gallon of unleaded is pushing down to around $2 in the area, according to GasBuddy.com. And the price has actually dipped below the magic $2 figure at some stations, reports Channel 2 Action News.
That’s good news in advance of the holidays, with many people likely to take to the road to visit family and friends over the Thanksgiving break and beyond.
Prices here and across the U.S. were around $3 a gallon a year ago before beginning a fast plummet to the $2 dollar neighborhood in early 2015. Locally, the cost of gas has been slightly lower than the national figure for most of the period.
The American Automobile Association expects average U.S. prices to continue to decline and possibly drop below $2 per gallon by Christmas for the first time since 2009.
The relatively low price of crude oil can be thanked, AAA explained on its website.
Across Georgia, the average price of a gallon Thursday was $2.05, about a nickel lower than the national average.
Georgia is among the lowest-cost gas states, but it’s not as low as South Carolina ($1.87 a gallon) or Alabama ($1.88 a gallon), GasBuddy.com says.
It’s much lower in Georgia than in many states in the West, however. Californians, for example, are still paying about $2.76 per gallon.
As far as how low prices will go, that’s uncertain. But the trend is downward. Prices nationally are down about 9 cents per gallon from last week and about 15 cents a gallon from last month.
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