Gas dips below $3 a gallon

Regular gasoline has fallen below $3 a gallon at more than a dozen gas stations in New Jersey, including two on Route 130 in Camden County.

That reflects a general downward trend nationally - a drop of about 9 cents over the last two weeks, according to the Lundberg Survey.

In Pennsylvania, the cheapest is $3.12 a gallon at an Eastcoast station on West Main Street in Jeffersonville, Montgomery County, according to GasBuddy.com.

New Jersey has lower prices largely because of lower gas taxes. At least 14 places are charging just $2.97 for a gallon of regular, including a Gulf station in West Collingswood and a Valero in Collingswood, according to GasBuddy.com. Eight of them are in Edison, near Exit 10 of the N.J. Turnpike, about 30 miles north of Trenton.

The leader, though, is the $2.95 charged by a Delta in Lakewood in Ocean County.

The state average was $3.181 this morning, down about 11 cents from a month ago, but up from $2.92 a year ago, according to AAA's Fuel Guage Report (http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com).

Tied for No. 2 in Pennsylvania are Country Farms in Royersford, and five stations in Dubois, a town off Interstate 80 in Western Pennsylvania.

The state average was $3.32, down 11 cents from a month ago, but up 28 cents from a year ago, according to AAA.

Nationally, the cheapest gas was $2.09 a gallon in Houston - perhaps some special promotion - followed by $2.59 in New Orleans and Thomaston, Ga., according to Mapquest.com.

Albuquerque, N.M., is the city with the nation's lowest average price - $2.84 a gallon, Lundberg said.

Philadelphia's average, as of this morning, was $3.358, according to AAA.

The highest price in the area, $3.89 a gallon, was being charged both by a Gulf on Vine Street in Philadelphia and a Lukoil on Haddonfield-Berlin Road in Voorhees, according to GasBuddy.com.