Gas Prices Below $2 a Gallon for the First Time in Months

By The Times and Democrat, Orangeburg, S.C.

Feb. 21–Orangeburg gasoline prices have dipped below $2 a gallon for the first time since the Thanksgiving Day 2005 weekend.

A survey of 19 selected Orangeburg service stations Monday afternoon revealed the least expensive self-serve regular unleaded gasoline sold at six stations for $1.999. Gasoline prices locally have fallen about 16 cents since Christmas Day.

Local prices Monday were averaging around $2.02 a gallon.

Statewide, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded has dipped below $2 for the first time since December. The state average then fell to $1.973.

Through Feb. 20, the South Carolina state average was $2.09 per gallon of regular, unleaded self-serve gasoline, according to AAA Carolinas.

Gas prices in the state have dipped 13.4 cents in the past month.

The Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson metro area listed an average price of $1.995 a gallon, the lowest average in the state. According to www.southcarolinagasprices.com, the least expensive gasoline sold in Gaffney for $1.76 at several stations.

In South Carolina, gas prices are the highest in Myrtle Beach, where it averages $2.152 a gallon. The most expensive, according to www.southcarolinagasprices.com, sold for $2.29 at a Garden City Mobile and at two McClellanville stations.

“Motorists should enjoy it while they can,” said David E. Parsons, president and CEO of AAA Carolinas. “With seasonal maintenance scheduled at major refineries, along with increased driving and the switch to more expensive, cleaner-burning summer blends just around the corner, these low prices are no indication of what we will see this summer.”

Lower prices can be attributed to warmer temperatures in the Southeast this winter, decreased driving this time of year, a drop in crude oil prices with abundant supply and a growth in domestic oil inventories.

Gasoline price spikes could also be forthcoming, with news reports from Warri, Nigeria revealing that militant groups launched attacks across Nigeria’s troubled delta region, blowing up oil installations. The violence cut the West African nation’s crude oil exports by 20 percent.

Nigeria is Africa’s leading oil exporter and the United States’ fifth-largest supplier. The country normally produces 2.5 million barrels a day.

—–

To see more of The Times and Democrat, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.timesanddemocrat.com.

Copyright (c) 2006, The Times and Democrat, Orangeburg, S.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.