By Christie Duffy
Correspondent
The price of gas has been declining all summer. And drivers here have not failed notice.
“I have two apps for gas and cheap gas. And if I go on the app, it will tell me where to gas up and at what price. And one of the listings was $2.99 right here at this gas station,” said Jackson resident Fred Schiffman.
And, says oil analyst Tom Kloza, the price at the pump will be moving even lower.
“I think we’ll see a lot prices in New Jersey begin with a 2 for the last three months of this year,” said Kloza, the chief oil analyst for GasBuddy.com.
The average price of regular unleaded gas in New Jersey is below the national average. Finding it today for less than $3.15 is not hard. But where can you find it below the $3 mark? One Citgo at the intersection of Hurley and River Avenue in Lakewood.
At $2.99 a gallon, this gas station has the lowest self-reported price in the whole state, according to GasBuddy, which is an app where drivers can log on and plug in the price at their local pump.
“In November we go down to Florida and I’ll be happy if the gas is even lower for the trip down there,” Schiffman said.
And, says Kloza, it likely will be, as wholesale prices are falling.
“Today is one of those days where you can say with a lot of certainty that prices are gonna move lower,” said Kloza.
So why the low prices?
“We’re entering a new era of gasoline prices. That means lower prices in the future. Mainly because the U.S. is producing more oil. In the New Jersey area in the past, your gas prices were more influenced by what was happening in Europe because you imported a lot of oil into the East Coast. But more and more it’s gonna be determined by factors here at home,” said The Price Futures Group Senior Analyst Phil Flynn.
“We’re also producing a lot more natural gas liquids and in the middle of September the formula to make gas allows for a lot of these cheaper liquids to be blended into the recipe,” Kloza said.
And overseas, Islamic state militants have been careful not to damage Iraqi oil refineries, says analyst Flynn. Even after a reported takeover of one of the biggest Iraq refineries in June.
“Why do you think that is? These ISIS guys are greedy. They want money. They want to control the oil,” said Flynn.
And as long as oil and gas prices remain low here at home, AAA says more will be encouraged to travel.