WASHINGTON -- U.S. retail gasoline prices dropped below $2.20 a gallon for the first time since the end of 2005, and more savings at pump are on the way for drivers due to cheaper crude oil, the government said Monday.
The national price for regular unleaded gasoline declined 6.4 cents over the last week to $2.17 a gallon, down 17 cents from a year ago and the cheapest since December 2005, according to the federal Energy Information Administration's weekly survey of service stations.
Helping to reduce the pain at the pump are high gasoline inventories and lower prices for crude oil, which account for about half the cost of making motor fuel.
The U.S. crude price has fallen 16 percent this month, dropping another 86 cents Monday to $51.13 a barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Not all those savings have been passed on to consumers at the pump yet, the EIA said.
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Gasoline has fallen 14 cents over the last two weeks and could drop to close to $2 nationally by late January or early February, according to the Energy Department's analytical arm.
In the EIA's new weekly survey, West Coast service stations had the most expensive gasoline by region, down 4.5 cents to $2.51 a gallon. Among major cities, San Francisco had the highest pump price at $2.64 a gallon, down 3.3 cents from a week ago.
By region, the cheapest gasoline was in the Midwest at $1.99 a gallon, down 8.5 cents from a week earlier. Cleveland had the most affordable fuel among surveyed cities at $1.98 a gallon, down 10.9 cents.
The EIA also reported that pump prices were down 5.5 cents to $2.60 in Seattle, down 5.6 cents to $2.26 in Miami, down 5.9 cents to $2.26 in New York City, down 6.6 cents to $2.19 in Boston, down 9.4 cents to $2.13 in Chicago and down 5.8 cents to $2.03 in Houston.
Separately, the price of diesel fuel fell by 3.3 cents to $2.43 a gallon, down 4.2 cents from the same time last year and also the lowest since December 2005.
The West Coast had the priciest diesel, down 5.4 cents to $2.70 a gallon. Diesel was cheapest in the Gulf Coast states, down 3 cents to $2.36 a gallon.
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