Early holiday gift: $2 gas

From the Saturday, November 22, 2008 edition of the Northwest Herald:

Early holiday gift: $2 gas
By DIANA SROKA - dsroka@nwherald.com

Gas prices took such a toll on Mary Moravec’s home budget that she wasn’t counting on giving many gifts this holiday season. But as the mother of two pumped $1.99 a gallon Meijer gas in McHenry on Friday, things started looking up.

“I didn’t plan on having too much of a Christmas,” said Moravec of Richmond. “But now I think I might.”

Moravec was one of many McHenry County drivers who saw gas prices plummet below $2 a gallon late this week.

The statewide average price for a gallon of regular gas ranged from $1.96 to $2, according to AAA and state gas price monitors.

But across McHenry County and nearby, many drivers got even better deals at the pump.

A gallon of regular unleaded gas was $1.89 Friday morning at Woodman’s on Randall Road in Carpentersville.

“We just changed it this morning,” said Terry Donovan, manager. “It was $1.93 yesterday.”

At the Clark station on Washington Street in Woodstock, a gallon of regular gas was $1.99 Friday, and it was $1.97 at the Thornton’s gas station on Route 14 in Cary.

Prices haven’t been this low since March 2005, according to AAA, and last month, the statewide average was $3.18 a gallon, according to www.illinois.gov/gasprices.

But more important to consumers, experts predict that gas prices will keep dropping.

“We think prices are going to continue to fall through the end of the year and into 2009,” said Beth Mosher, AAA Chicago spokeswoman. “Right now, oil prices are so low and they’re falling.”

Lower retail gas prices are a reflection of declining crude oil prices and higher inventories, Mosher said.

Donovan said what that meant for his store was that if oil sources began producing less oil or if consumers began driving more in response to the low prices, the cost at the pump could climb again.

“If OPEC and oil-producing countries decide to diminish the amount of crude oil that’s on the market, then of course the price will go up,” Donovan said. “Availability will be less.”

Mosher said she couldn’t predict just how low prices would get but said drivers likely wouldn’t see a spike around the holidays.

It’s good news for Moravec, who said she would use the savings to buy gifts for her daughters.

“I didn’t think we’d see $1 anything again,” she said.