Suck It, OPEC.

Apparently a lot has happened since my last post.

The stock, credit and housing markets have been in shambles; the price of oil has now fallen over 50% from its record highs set this past July; and the price of gasoline has dropped well below the psychologically important $3 mark.

As of this afternoon, the national average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline stood at $2.88, which is about 30% below this summer’s peak prices. Over the past month alone, the price of gas has fallen nearly 23%. Additionally, the price of gasoline is now only 7% higher than what it was at this point last year.

Currently every state is reporting an average price below $4 per gallon, and there are only 13 states with average prices above $3 per gallon. Hawaii has the highest state-wide average price at $3.77 per gallon, while Oklahoma has the lowest state-wide average price at $2.40 per gallon.

Unfortunately, this record price decline might be nearing an end. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will be holding a meeting this coming Friday to discuss massive production cuts in order to protect oil prices. It is widely speculated that OPEC will announce daily production cuts of between 1.5 million and 2 million barrels.

Given the world’s current economic state, it is very doubtful that this production cut will cause oil prices - and subsequently gasoline prices - to shoot back up towards their record highs. However, it’s not unreasonable to expect prices to, at the very least, stay at their current levels or rise slightly.

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