Cheaper gas on the horizon in U.S.

• Tweet

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- American motorists will pay quite a bit less to fill their tanks in the coming weeks, national gasoline price watchers say.

USA Today reported Saturday that following a peak average price of $3.86 a gallon this month, prices will plummet about 50 cents a gallon. Lower demand and rising inventories are the reason, the newspaper said.

"Most of the country is heading appreciably lower the next few weeks," Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service said.

He said he expects retail prices to fall 5 to 15 cents a gallon each of the next three weeks.

Kloza predicts gas will fall to about $3.30 a gallon. Gasbuddy.com analyst Patrick DeHaan and energy analyst Brian Milne of Telvent DTN are forecasting $3.35 a gallon.

Some stations in central Ohio are already selling gas for under $3 a gallon.

Unless something unforeseen happens, prices could remain in that range through early 2013, USA Today said.