Driving, Gas Prices | featured news

A sharp decline in the price of oil this month is making gasoline cheaper at a time of year when it typically gets more expensive. It's a relief to motorists and business owners and a positive development for the economy. Over the past three weeks, the price of oil has fallen by 9 percent to $89 a barrel.

With gas prices 80 cents a gallon higher than they were a year ago, fewer Washington area residents plan to drive when traveling over the coming holiday weekend. But AAA’s annual survey of Fourth of July weekend travel found a 22 percent jump in the number of area residents who said they plan to fly somewhere.

With gasoline prices hovering at $4 a gallon nationally, many Americans are making tough choices: scaling back summer vacations, driving less or ditching the car altogether. Some seniors are choosing a tank of gas over their prescriptions....

Oil prices plummeted by almost 9 percent on Thursday as traders worried that American drivers were beginning to balk at the price of gasoline.

So now President Barack Obama has decided to go after the oil speculators. He wants to “root out any cases of fraud or manipulation.” He’s directed the Justice Department to set up a task force. Yessir, he’s determined to get to the bottom of this.

A dollar plumbing three-year lows is hitting Americans squarely in the gas tank, and one economist thinks it could drive prices as high as $6 a gallon or more by summertime under the right conditions.