S. Jersey gas average below $1.50

And here's another present for you: The average price of a gallon of gas in South Jersey slipped below $1.50 for the first time in almost five years.

A gallon of regular no-lead was averaging $1.49 today, down a cent overnight, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

The five-county Philadelphia area saw the average hold steady, at $1.74.

The national average slipped a cent, to $1.64.

In the Philly area, the diesel average held at $2.73 a gallon. In South Jersey, it was down a penny, to $2.40; and at the national level, down a cent, to $2.47.

Oil prices rebounded to above $36 a barrel today as key OPEC members were seen complying with promised output cuts, but investors were still braced for more signs that the global economic slowdown deepened in the fourth quarter.

While OPEC production cuts announced in the past few months had failed to stop prices from falling, last week's decision to slash production by 2.2 million barrels a day, the largest OPEC cutback ever, finally seemed to be having a bullish effect on prices.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for about 40 percent of global supply, had already decided on a cut of 1.5 million barrels a day in November, but doubts about the will of some members to carry out the quota reductions had helped neutralize its influence on the market.