Gas price hits a 5-year low

CAMARILLO, Calif. - The average national price of gasoline fell 9 cents in the past two weeks, bringing it to its lowest point in nearly five years, according to a national survey released yesterday.

The average price of regular gasoline Friday was $1.66 a gallon, oil industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said. The price of mid-grade was $1.80 a gallon and the price of premium was $1.92 a gallon.

The last time gas prices dipped so low was in February 2004, Lundberg said, when the national average for regular was also around $1.66 a gallon. The all-time high was on July 11, 2008, when the price peaked at $4.11 a gallon.

Of cities surveyed, the nation's lowest price was $1.37 in Cheyenne, Wyo. The highest price was $2.41 in Anchorage, Alaska. In the continental United States, the highest price was on New York's Long Island, at $1.92.

On Friday, AAA Mid-Atlantic reported that the average price for a gallon of regular gas in the five-county Philadelphia area was down 1 cent to $1.76, and that for South Jersey the price was down 1 cent to $1.53. *