Light sweet crude, on the cheap

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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If this Knoxville News story is any indication:

Gasoline prices in the Knoxville area were down again Friday, good news for shoppers shuttling between stores hunting for holiday bargains. The average cost of a gallon of regular unleaded dropped a penny overnight to $1.739, according to AAA East Tennessee.

Mid grade fuel also fell a penny to an average of $1.834 and premium dropped 1.2 cents to $1.921, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

The national average dropped a penny to $1.835.

Auto club prices are based on the last credit card swipe at area filling stations on Thursday.

Prices as low as $1.46 at a Marathon station on Asheville Highway near Interstate 40 in East Knoxville and a $1.53 at Kroger on Asheville Highway and Burns Road were reported on the Web Site Gasbuddy.com, where consumers report prices they have seen.

Prices at the pump have fallen steadily for more than a month and could be headed even lower as oil prices slumped Friday with little indication from OPEC members that there would be any production cuts before a regularly scheduled meeting in December.

Midway through an abbreviated session on the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude for January delivery fell 5.6 percent, or $3.07 to $51.37 a barrel. Trading was closed Thursday in the U.S. for the Thanksgiving holiday.