Gas Prices Drop More Than A Dime

Down 11 Cents In Two Weeks, But Analyst Warns Trend Won't Continue

(CBS/AP)  Retail gas prices have continued to drop across the country, falling an additional 11 cents in the past two weeks, according to a survey released Sunday.

But the price plunge won't go on much longer, warns analyst Trilby Lundberg, who publishes the semimonthly Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations around the country.

The weighted average price for all three grades dropped to $2.16 a gallon on Dec. 2, Lundberg told CBS Radio News.

"Self-serve regular costs $2.13, and it is also down nearly 11 cents from Nov. 18," she said. Midgrade cost $2.24, and the price for premium was $2.33.

That's a total of about 88 cents a gallon since September, Lundberg said.

"This continues the trend of price cuts over several weeks from the hurricanes' damage and restoration of our refining capacity," she said, but the trend is slowing and will soon come to a halt.

"Oil prices are up slightly, and our gasoline demand is making a recovery, because of lower prices and the generally healthy U.S. economy

Among stations surveyed, the lowest average price in the country for regular unleaded was $1.89 a gallon in Tulsa, Okla. The highest price was $2.55 in Honolulu.