Gas Prices: How Low Will They Go?

By Kara Seymour

With gas prices at their lowest in more than five years, you might be wondering how much longer you can count on those savings at the pump.

If the trend of decreasing crude oil prices continues as experts predict for the beginning of 2015, all signs point to drivers saving—at least for the next several months.

Supply and demand issues have driven the price of crude oil below $50 a barrel this month for the first time since 2009, according to AAA. Experts predict crude oil prices have not bottomed out yet.

Energy experts told USA Today that the cost of crude oil could dip below $40 a barrel before beginning to rise again.

AAA Mid Atlantic also says it expects prices to continue to fall in the beginning of 2015. ”Global oil prices are expected to remain relatively low for the first half of 2015,” AAA said in a statement.

And energy experts quoted by the Washington Post say they expect low prices for the next several months due to an oversupply of crude oil. Prices will likely rebound as production decreases and consumption goes up, according to the Washington Post.

As of Friday, the average price of gas in Pennsylvania was $2.34, according to GasBuddy.com. Pennsylvania has the eighth-highest gas prices in the country. The cheapest gas can be found in Missouri, where prices average $1.77 a gallon.

The national average price of gas has fallen for a record 106 days to $2.17 per gallon as of Friday, according to figures from AAA. By the end of 2014, American households were saving an average of about $115 on gasoline in comparison to the year before.