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As Summer Driving Season Comes To A Close Gas Prices Make A Drastic Drop

PERTH AMBOY, NJ (CBSNewYork) -- Drivers filling up at the pump have noticed a drastic drop in the price of gas. It's especially low in New Jersey at under $2 a gallon for regular gas.

At $1.99 a gallon at a 7-11 and at a nearby Speedway. As CBS2's Ilana Gold reported, drivers weren't cringing.

"That's excellent. I spend $400 to $500 a week in gas. I have a company. That is very good news for me," Javier Barquero said.

"I used to spend $100 a tank. Now it's $50. It's wonderful. It makes it a pleasure to drive again. I have to take my kids a lot of places," Mary Ann Malone said.

AAA said it's definitely unusual to see gas prices this low, but it's common for them to go down this time of year and right now that's the trend across the tri-state area.

"We're on the downward side of the mountain as far as the spikes in gasoline prices we see during the summer," Robert Sinclair said.

Numbers from AAA show the current average price for a regular gallon of gas in New Jersey is $2.29. At this time last year it was $3.26.

In New York it costs $2.71, a dollar less than last year, and in Connecticut the price is $2.68, down from $3.75 last year.

AAA gave a number of reasons for the dip.

Summer driving season has already peaked, refineries are switching over from summer to winter fuel that's cheaper to distribute, and there is an excess supply of crude oil.

"We think prices will go low overall through the end of this year into the beginning of next," Sinclair said.

Prices are expected to stay at around $2.00 a gallon, something drivers can definitely get used to.

 

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