Gas Prices May Start To Ease For Now

Gas prices are now sharply lower from the high levels seen mid-summer and are just three cents short of pre-Ike levels of $3.652 a gallon. Furthermore, gas is now selling for about 43 cents less than the record high price of $4.114 a gallon set on July 17. That remains to be roughly a 10% decline, according to CNN Money.

Gas prices headed higher following the devastation left behind by hurricanes Ike and Gustav. With the summer season now over, the downward trend may continue if there are no more hurricanes but the season is only half over at this point.

Prices have stayed below the key $4 level for some time now, but they still remain higher from a year ago, when gas was selling for less than $3 a gallon. Current prices are about 87 cents, or 31%, higher from a year earlier at this time, when gas was selling for $2.81 a gallon. Meanwhile, only two states continue to report gas prices above $4 a gallon: Alaska and Hawaii.

Oil prices were also volatile this week after plummeting overnight as investors weighed the fallout from U.S. lawmakers’ rejection of the proposed $700 billion bailout aimed at stabilizing the teetering U.S. economy. It appears that for the near future at least, oil prices may follow a yo-yo pattern.