WOKV oil expert: Gas prices flattening out, but 2015 looking good

Jacksonville’s gas prices could be flattening out, but they won’t go back to where they were in 2013 and early 2014.

WOKV News oil expert Gregg Laskoski with GasBuddy.com believes gas prices will be relatively low for 2015 and “probably the foreseeable future.”

On Tuesday, the average price for a gallon of regular gas in Jacksonville was $2.01, down seven cents from the previous week.  A year ago, the average price was $3.32.

“It would be incredible to see prices get that high again,” Laskoski says.  “Especially with crude oil trading as low as it is.”

Crude oil is currently trading between $43 and $45 a barrel.  Laskoski says he isn’t certain if that’s the floor or not.

“It’s still possible that we could see retail prices move just a little bit lower over the next week to ten days,” he says.

Laskoski says it would be remarkable if crude oil rose back up to $80 a barrel.

“That’s a level that many of us used to consider the floor, and now we’re looking at that as almost a ceiling.”

He says the lower prices are being driven by the “remarkable production” not just in the U.S. but throughout North America.

“Canadian production and Mexican oil production have just been extraordinary,” he says.  “So that’s what’s really put the pressure on OPEC.”