A recent countrywide Lundberg survey shows that gasoline prices have registered a steep drop, with the average retail price for a gallon of gasoline in the US plunging in the last two weeks. The reason is being analyzed as the economic slowdown that weighed on crude oil and drove consumers off the roads.

Gasoline is now about a penny cheaper than last year and about $1.33 less than its record peak in July.

According to the survey of some 7,000 gas stations, the national average price for a gallon of self-serve, regular unleaded gas showed a decline of about 53 cents per gallon in the past two weeks, and was $2.7785 on October 24.

In spite of an agreement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output, oil settled down nearly $4 a barrel on Friday on broader worries about a global economic recession.

Survey editor, Trilby Lundberg, said on Sunday that the drop is unprecedented, and, dictated by the crash in crude oil prices, it deepened powerfully by falling demand. She also added that prices are likely to slide more, following the “extraordinary” decline this month, but at a comparatively slower pace.

Lundberg said: “It looks as though gasoline prices will continue down but at a moderated pace, unless crude oil prices leap up substantially and stay there.”

She opines that the weak economy now suggests that the price crash on the street, still probably will not be enough to inspire any strong comeback in demand in the near future.

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