CNN/Money’s $5 Per Gallon Gas Prediction Doesn’t Pan Out

October 31st, 2005 11:24 PM

Do you remember all those predictions in September that gasoline prices were going to $5 per gallon? As a reminder, here’s a report from CNN/Money on September 21:

“Remember when gas spiked to $3-plus a gallon after Hurricane Katrina? By this time next week, that could seem like the good old days.”

“‘We could be looking at gasoline lines and $4 gas, maybe even $5 gas, if this thing does the worst it could do,’ said energy analyst Peter Beutel of Cameron Hanover. ‘This storm is in the wrong place. And it's absolutely at the wrong time,’ said Beutel.”

Well, a report today from Reuters suggests the CNN/Money analysts were a little off: "The national retail price for gasoline fell below $2.50 a gallon for the first time in 12 weeks, while diesel dropped under $3, the government’s top energy forecasting agency said Monday.”

Oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped below $60 per barrel today, the first closing price that low since July. Meanwhile, wholesale gas prices also declined to levels not seen since July, a harbinger of possibly even lower prices at the pumps in the near future.