Smiles at the pump abound as economy tanks
11:39 a.m. Friday, October 10, 2008
In Austin, Texas people are lining up to fill up on $2.89 a gallon gas.
"If that's what it is that's amazing," Texas resident Sibyl Marshall said.
This summer many people had grown accustomed to paying more than $4 a gallon, so to now pay the national average of $3.40 a gallon, or even less than $3 in parts of the country, is sweet relief.
"$2.99 cash price you got to love it," another motorist said.
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It is one bright spot in an otherwise dismal economy. The global financial crisis and the threat of recession have reduced the demand for oil, pushing the cost of a barrel of crude below $90, down 40 percent from it's record high of $147 a barrel in July.
"It tells me that the price of oil has gotten back into reality it's where it approximately should be," Webush Morgan Securities President Ed Wedbush said.
Wedbush believes the price of gas will continue to fall. Not everyone is convinced.
"I don't think these fluctuations mean anything. You know, I think they cheer people up for like a week or something, and that's it," California resident Donald Krieger said.
And they do cheer people up.
For Aaron Zaretsy, saving $25 a week at the pump couldn't come at a better time.
When ABC asked New Jersey resident Aaron Zaretsky what he was going to do with the extra cash, he replied "pay bills."
Home heating oil in some parts of the country is expected to be up nearly 25 percent over last winter.
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