gasoline consumption

It looks like consumers are finally starting to see lower prices at the pump, with auto club AAA reporting a modest decline in gas prices this week. The drop comes after crude oil prices have fallen 20% since July. What does this mean for the economy?

Light crude oil prices have been climbing in the last few days, closing the week at $88.94 per barrel on the NYMEX. If prices climb high enough, it could damage the still-weak economy by raising the costs of gasoline, jet fuel and petroleum-based chemicals. How high is too high?

Strikers in France shut down refineries that ship gasoline to U.S. East Coast, and the proportion of corn-based ethanol the government will allow in gasoline is rising from 10% to 15%.

The government will raise the limit on ethanol concentration in gasoline for some cars. The Environmental Protection Agency will raise the limit to as much as 15%, from the current 10%, for vehicles made in 2007 or later, Bloomberg News said without naming its sources. Sponsored Links Ethanol...

Penske Automotive Group (PAG), a chain of car dealerships, reached an agreement with Japan's Nissan Motors (NSANY) to sell a Nissan-made small car in the U.S. market under the Smart brand name. Penske hopes that adding the Nissan-made car, a four-door hatchback, to the Smart line will boost...

The price per gallon for gasoline is at the second-lowest level in five years, and some economists predict it could drop much further soon. The reason: More-than-ample inventories of crude oil and refined petroleum products.

Gas prices reversed sharply over the past two weeks, falling more than 7 cents to an average of $2.70 a gallon for regular unleaded. A drop in oil prices helped reduce the pain at the pump, bringing gas prices to the lowest level since February.

U.S. gasoline prices rose about 4 cents per gallon in the last three weeks, according to the latest price survey. The latest Lundberg Survey, conducted on Friday in 38 markets, shows the average price of self-serve regular was $2.77 per gallon, an increase of about 3.9 cents from the last survey...