People are paying much less to replenish their SUVs for a seventh week in a row as the value of fuel slides towards yearly lows. CBS MoneyWatch stories:

Since hitting a four-year excessive close to $77 a barrel originally of final month, oil costs have plummeted about 30 %, briefly sinking beneath $50 a barrel Thursday. The oil market has been in a droop amid rising stockpiles of U.S. crude and ideas of slowing international progress and softer demand for the commodity.

The nationwide common for a gallon of fuel on Thursday got here to $2.51, based on AAA. Drivers in Texas and Missouri had been paying simply above two bucks a gallon, and motorists paid greater than $3.00 a gallon in fives states — California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Alaska, based on AAA.

The nationwide common is prone to briefly dip into the $2.30s, however may vary from $2.35 to $2.55 a gallon for the remainder of the 12 months, a situation that might change with subsequent week’s OPEC gathering, DeHaan mentioned.

It stays to be seen whether or not Russia and Saudi Arabia can attain settlement on a minimize in manufacturing on the upcoming G20 summit, after which whether or not any consensus holds into an OPEC assembly subsequent week. Decrease fuel costs may additionally assist preserve a lid on inflation and reduce stress on the Federal Reserve to hike rates of interest, one thing President Trump has loudly advocated in opposition to.