Nation’s gas prices headed below $3 a gallon

Gasoline prices are headed for their lowest levels since 2010 and could drop below $3 a gallon.

With a national average now of $3.178 -- the lowest average in almost a year -- and the traditional autumn price drop in crude oil just beginning, the fuel industry research firm GasBuddy says Americans could see a national average as low as $2.95 for a gallon of unleaded.

GasBuddy analysts say a “temporary glut of crude oil in global markets” and fear of a global gas war may explain the price drops.

“This is not your garden variety autumn swoon in gasoline prices,” chief oil analyst Tom Kloza said in a statement. “We’re shocked by the velocity with which crude oil prices have come down.”

Some states already are seeing average gas prices below $3 a gallon, mostly in the South and Midwest.

Most of the rest of the country is likely to see prices below that price point soon.

But states unlikely to fall as far as $3 a gallon include Alaska, Hawaii, New York, Connecticut, Oregon, Vermont and, alas, California.

At midday Tuesday, the cheapest gas in the Los Angeles metropolitan area was selling for $3.35 a gallon, according to GasBuddy’s “Search Gas Prices” Web feature. The city average was $3.61 a gallon.

GasBuddy’s Kloza says fuel industry professionals are reacting to a concern that a crude oil price war is developing between OPEC and non-OPEC countries. Conservative institutional investors are getting nervous about having money in the oil business while a price slide is underway.

“We’re on an incredible downward slope,” Kloza says. “And nothing drives a market lower than fear.”

Obviously that’s good news, getting better, for consumers.

Wherever you live, Kloza says, “Your next load of fuel will be cheaper.”

Twitter: @misterfleming