Business & Real Estate

Sacramento gas prices continue to fall; more dips likely

By Mark Glover

mglover@sacbee.com
Lydia Holland fills up at a gas station in Sacramento, Calif. The United States and China can look to California as an example of the costs and challenges of fighting global warming, since the state has imposed some of the world’s toughest air quality standards as it moves to lower emissions.
Lydia Holland fills up at a gas station in Sacramento, Calif. The United States and China can look to California as an example of the costs and challenges of fighting global warming, since the state has imposed some of the world’s toughest air quality standards as it moves to lower emissions. Rich Pedroncelli AP

Sacramento-area gasoline prices continue to fall, part of a national trend pushing at-the-pump costs to seven-year lows.

National gas price tracker GasBuddy.com said Monday that the average retail price of gas in the area was $2.45 a gallon, down 4 cents from last week, 31.5 cents from last month and 17.8 cents from a year ago.

Nationally, the average was $2.01 a gallon, down 15.8 cents from last month and 53.3 cents below the year-ago average.

“We are going to end this year with the lowest gas prices since 2008, and people want to know can it get even lower? Yes, it can,” said Jeff Pelton, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. “There is simply too much crude oil out there for gas prices not to decline.”

The glut has pushed crude oil prices unusually low, which also drives down gasoline costs. On Monday, crude oil was trading at around $36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Mark Glover: 916-321-1184, @markhglover

This story was originally published December 14, 2015 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Sacramento gas prices continue to fall; more dips likely."

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