How low will they go? Gas prices lowest in a long time

Labor Day weekend gas prices will be the lowest they’ve been since 2004, with the cost to fill the tank expected to plunge even lower this fall and winter, experts predict.

At $2.18 a gallon on Tuesday, the average price for gasoline in New Jersey was almost 30 cents a gallon less than it was a month ago, and more than a dollar less than it was a year ago, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

“It should go lower tomorrow,” Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for Oil Price Information Service in Wall, said on Tuesday.

“This is the cheapest Labor Day price for gas in New Jersey since 2004,” when the average cost for a gallon of gas on Labor Day weekend was $1.82, Kloza said.

Although the average statewide gasoline price on Tuesday was $2.18 a gallon, “anyone with a pulse can do a lot better than that,” Kloza said.

Yolanda Rodriguez, 57, of Long Branch was one of them. She was filling up her Honda Element at the 76 gas station on Route 33 in Neptune, where gasoline was selling for $2.03 a gallon.

“I love them because they’re low,” Rodriguez said of the current gas prices. “That means I have more money to do other things. I just paid $15 and I got almost a full tank, and I was almost on empty.”

Kloza said prices are even lower elsewhere.

“You can find some Costco (stations) with gas for less than $2,” he said. “We will see many, many more stations at less than $2 next week.”

Kloza predicted the cost for a gallon of gasoline could plunge to as low as $1.75 a gallon in New Jersey in the fall and winter, when prices historically are lower because of lighter demand and the cheaper blend of ingredients used for winter fuel.

The average price for gasoline in New Jersey was $2.47 a gallon a month ago, and $3.25 a year ago, said Tracy Noble, spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic.

“The prices have considerably fallen in the past several months, and we expect that trend to continue into the fall driving season and beyond,” Noble said.

That means people will be traveling in greater numbers this upcoming Labor Day holiday weekend, she said.

“It means more motorists are going to be driving, taking advantage of low fuel prices,” Noble said. “In New Jersey, we’re going to see over 1 million residents traveling 50 miles or more from home for Labor Day weekend, with 80 percent of those going by automobile.

“This is the first year we at AAA have seen an increase for all of the traveling holidays because fuel prices have gone down,” she said. “People are getting back on the roadways, they’re traveling, because they have more pocket money to spend.”

The low prices bode well for Janet Genco and her family, who like to take frequent trips to Jersey Shore beaches from their home in Staten Island.

“Every time I’m in New Jersey, I fill up,” said Genco, 55. “I’m probably saving $15 to $17 a tank from last year.

“I love the fact that it’s low,” she said of the $2.03 a gallon price of gas at the Gas Plus station on Route 33 in Neptune. “Hopefully, it will continue going down.”

Current prices, while low, aren’t the lowest they’ve been all year. The lowest average price for a gallon of gas in New Jersey this year was on Feb. 1, at $1.89, Kloza said. Prices peaked in June with an average price of $2.62 a gallon, he said.

But that price is significantly lower than New Jersey’s all-time high of $3.99 a gallon on July 8, 2008, Kloza said.

“We never got to the $4 average,” he noted.

The price of crude oil drives the market price for gasoline, Kloza and Noble said. That price has been around $40 a barrel. Although demand is growing worldwide, production also is on the rise, particularly in the United States, as well as in Saudi Arabia, Kloza said.

‘You can call it a price war, call it a free market,” he said.

“We are just entering hurricane season and we do not know what is going to happen,” Noble said, noting that gas prices soared after Hurricane Katrina damaged pipelines 10 years ago. “Barring any unforeseen natural disaster, the prices should continue lower.”

Kloza predicted, “We’re going to see one of the cheaper off-seasons we’ve seen in a long time,” with prices starting to rise again in February or March.

“I wish it would go to $1.50 or even lower,” said Frank Jean, 42, of Neptune, who was filling up his vehicle at Gas Plus in Neptune. “You can use some of that money on other necessities, like food and paying bills.”

Kathleen Hopkins: 732-643-4202; Khopkins@app.com