Retail gasoline prices below the $2 mark becoming the new normal as crude oil continues to trade below the $50-per-barrel mark. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- For 25 days in a row, U.S. drivers have seen the retail price for gasoline fall and that should be the prevailing trend through year's end, AAA reports.

The motor club reports a national average retail price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline at $2.04, a fraction of a cent less than Monday and 15 cents, or 6.7 percent, less than one month ago.


In a weekly report on the retail sector, AAA said the end to an unusually busy season of refinery maintenance, largely in the Great Lakes states, and slumping demand are behind the steady decline in gasoline prices.

"Demand for gasoline typically declines during the winter months and the gasoline market may become even more oversupplied in the near term, which should keep gas prices relatively low," the motor club's report read. "Barring any unanticipated disruptions in supply, or swings in the price of crude oil, retail averages are expected to continue to fall leading into 2016."

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Crude oil prices drive a large portion of the price at the pump. Brent crude oil prices declined nearly 7 percent in November, mirroring the trajectory for retail gasoline prices.

The level of oil production is more than the global economy can take on, putting downward pressure on crude oil prices. Geopolitical tensions, like those in the Middle East and Europe in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris, have made little impact on crude oil prices.

"The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to meet this Friday, and analysts expect that the cartel is unlikely to reduce production despite the relatively low price of crude oil," AAA's report read.

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Nearly half of all U.S. states report an average retail price below the $2 mark. Michigan has the lowest average price in the nation at $1.79 per gallon.

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