Gasoline price falls first time in 8 weeks: Energy Department
(Reuters) - U.S. gasoline prices fell for the first time in eight weeks, the Energy Department said on Monday, in what could be a turning point for American consumers.
Regular unleaded gasoline declined half a penny over the last week to a national price of $3.96 a gallon, which is still up $1.10 from a year ago.
The price for diesel fuel also fell 4.3 cents to $4.06 a gallon, diesel's first price decline in three weeks.
The drop in gasoline prices follows the sharp retreat in crude prices. U.S. oil has fallen about $16 a barrel since the beginning of this month.
"I think we've turned the corner and we should expect to see substantial price drops in the coming weeks," said Phil Flynn, energy analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago. He said gasoline could fall to $3.50 a gallon.
Guy Caruso, energy analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies added: "We may have seen the 2011 peak gasoline price in the U.S."
The amount of money consumers will spend on gasoline is close to what they will spend on groceries and medicine in a year, according to Mark Cooper, research director for the Consumer Federation of America.
"This is a big budget item and people clearly want near-term relief," Cooper said.
(Reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by Dale Hudson and Sofina Mirza-Reid)
