Gasoline prices tumble

HOUSTON -- Pump prices continued to tumble in the past week, falling more than 25 cents to a national average of $2.656 a gallon, new government figures show. In some places, gasoline is now selling for less than $2 a gallon.

A weekly report released Monday afternoon by the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed the Gulf Coast had the cheapest prices with an average of $2.46 a gallon, down 27.4 cents in the past week. The Midwest was next lowest at $2.497, followed by the East Coast ($2.684), the Rocky Mountain region ($2.762) and the West Coast ($3.05).

Prices have fallen nearly 50 cents in the past two weeks and are down almost 22 cents from a year ago.

In Las Vegas, the price of a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline was $2.919 on Monday, AAA said in its Daily Fuel Gauge report. That's down 16.4 percent from $3.493 a month ago and up 0.2 percent from $2.913 a year ago, AAA said.

Nationally, the average price for diesel fuel was $3.288, down 19.4 cents in the past week, the EIA reported.

Already, gasoline prices have dipped below $2 a gallon in some parts of the U.S. as the impact of plunging oil prices and reduced driving are finally taking hold.

In Ohio, the Web site GasBuddy.com, where consumers post prices they spot, said a few stations in the Cincinnati suburbs were now charging $1.99 for regular.

The national average for a gallon of regular fell 3 cents overnight to $2.668, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. That's roughly a dollar less than what was paid just a month ago and 18 cents below year-ago prices.

Despite the price decline, however, some retailers say gasoline sales are down on weekends by as much as 10 percent from a year ago -- a sign that some are driving only when necessary.

"I think the mentality of the consumer is, 'Yes, it's nice to have $2.50 gasoline, but I feel much poorer today than I did when it was $4 a gallon,'" said Ben Brockwell, director of data, pricing and information services for the Oil Price Information Service. "I think people are still in a money-saving mode."

Review-Journal writer Matthew Crowley contributed to this report.