Oil reaches lowest level in five months

DENVER – Local drivers have noticed that something is going on at the gas pump and it's pushing prices down.

"Three sixty-nine (a gallon)," said Michael McNeill. "That's the lowest I've seen in a while."

The lower gas prices are linked to lower oil prices. Tuesday, the price for a barrel of oil closed at $109.71 a barrel. That is the lowest price in five months.

Metro State Economics Professor Mohammed Akacem says a number of factors have contributed to lower oil prices. Not the least among them: the changing habits of Americans who have slowed the demand for gasoline.

"People basically said, 'I have to change. It's not that I want to. I need to make a change because I can't afford it,'" said Akacem.

Denver resident Lena Laakso invested in a Toyota Prius hybrid that she says allows her to avoid filling up for as many as four weeks at a time.

"(I get) over 400 miles to the tank on this," she said. "And consistently it gets 46 to 48 miles to the gallon."

According to figures from the American Automobile Association (AAA), the price for a gallon of gas in Denver now stands at about $3.71 a gallon. When oil originally hit the $109 a barrel mark in March, the price for a gallon of gas was $3.05 a gallon. While it seems to make sense that the price at the pump would automatically reflect the drop in the price of oil, Akacem says the change isn't automatic.

"There's a lag," he said, referring to the time it takes companies to lower gas prices because often times they're already using an oil supply they've purchased at a higher price.

Akacem is confident, though, that if oil maintains its lower price level, the average price for a gallon of gas could be near $3 by the end of the year.

He also thinks $100-a-barrel oil or less is not far away.

"I think it is more possible that we go to $100 a barrel and below," he said, "absolutely."