Topic: Tom Kloza

While there is a floor for U.S. gasoline prices, there are few signs pointing to an end to a new era of relief at the pump, price watchers said.

With global crude oil prices plummeting, U.S. retail gasoline is following suit, though the bottom might not be reached until January, an analyst said.

Analyses from GasBuddy and AAA show U.S. retail gasoline prices are plummeting and could reach $3 per gallon in some markets by the end of the year.

Tropical storms in the Gulf of Mexico could put more pressure on gasoline prices than conflict in the Middle East, a petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com said.

Oil prices rose sharply Friday morning as concerns grew over the increased fighting seen near Iraq's oil fields in Basra, Tikrit and Mosul.

An average U.S. monthly jump of 47 cents a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline is the biggest in nearly four years, and much earlier than usual, AAA says.

Market analysts are betting that gasoline prices in the United States may remain in the grips of an early season spike, an oil analyst said.

American motorists will pay quite a bit less to fill their tanks in the coming weeks, national gasoline price watchers say.

Gasoline prices in California skyrocketed to more than $4.50 a gallon as wholesale prices shot to all-time highs this week, officials said.

AAA said the national average price of gasoline was $3.83 per gallon Saturday, a decline from Friday, but still a record high for a Labor Day weekend.