Oil prices looking promising for consumers

NYMEX crude oil slumped at the end of the week as the dollar strengthened against the euro, reducing the appeal of commodities to investors. Crude oil closed Friday at $76.72 per barrel just 37 cents above last week’s closing.

Current conditions have some analysts expecting a decline in crude oil even as we approach Thanksgiving and a spike in demand for fuel. 

"Things aren’t looking good (for oil futures) because we’ve been unable to maintain momentum to the upside,” according to Michael Fitzpatrick, vice president of energy with MF Global in New York. “There’s a risk that we could test $60. That’s not likely, but I’m sure we’ll test $75 next week.”

“What might be bad news for oil brokers is often good news for consumers,” said Gregg Laskoski, managing director of public relations, AAA Auto Club South. “Aside from any significant decline in the dollar, there’s little on the horizon that is likely to push crude prices higher now. With ample crude and gasoline stocks, this may be a holiday where retail fuel prices remain flat or decline, and that would extend a trend of recent years.”

"In five of the last seven years, the national average price of gasoline has declined during Thanksgiving week and one week it remained unchanged," said Laskoski. “Only once in the last seven years have prices increased and that was 2006 when the national average price of unleaded gasoline increased by 3 cents per gallon during Thanksgiving week.”
 
As of today, the national average price of unleaded regular gasoline has increased by 6/10ths of a cent in the past week to $2.64 per gallon; Florida’s average price has increased by 8/10ths of a penny and Georgia and Tennessee’s average prices have remained unchanged for the past week at $2.50 and $2.49 per gallon, respectively.  
  
 
CURRENT AND PAST PRICE AVERAGES
Regular Unleaded Gasoline
 
                                   Nov.24           Week Ago      Month Ago     Year Ago
National:                    $2.641            $2.635             $2.636               $1.953
Florida:                      $2.679            $2.687             $2.663              $2.005
Georgia:                     $2.500            $2.506             $2.510             $1.855
Tennessee:                 $2.494            $2.496             $2.491              $1.819
 
AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report (fuelgaugereport.com) is updated each day and is the most comprehensive; reflecting actual prices from credit card transactions within the past 24 hours at two-thirds (100,000 stations) of the gasoline stations in the U.S. Its accuracy is unparalleled.