Gas prices in R.I. shed 4 cents

By Kimberley Donoghue
PBN Web Editor
Twitter: @kdonog

PROVIDENCE – Gasoline prices in Rhode Island shed 4 cents this week, AAA Southern New England said Monday.

AAA’s Nov. 21 survey found the average price of self-serve, unleaded regular gasoline at Ocean State stations was $3.47 per gallon.

Prices ranged from $3.25 to $3.65. A year ago, gasoline was 44 cents cheaper.

In Massachusetts, prices dropped 6 cents to $3.34 nationally, the average was $3.36.

Oil dropped for a third day in New York on signs that U.S. lawmakers won’t agree on cutting the budget deficit and on concern that Europe’s debt crisis will send the region’s economy into a recession, Bloomberg News reported.

Futures fell as much as 2.1 percent on speculation that a debt-reduction committee’s inaction will set the stage for $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts. Growth in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, may slow next year, the Bundesbank said Monday. Saudi Arabian Oil Co. CEO Khalid Al-Falih said the world economy is at risk of a double-dip recession.

“It looks like the congressional committee won’t meet the deadline to reach an agreement, so automatic cuts will kick in,” said Tom Bentz, a broker with BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc. in New York. “The European debt crisis continues to put pressure on equities and commodities.”

Crude oil for January delivery fell $1.54, or 1.6 percent, to $96.13 a barrel at 9:51 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures are up 5.2 percent this year.

Brent oil for January settlement dropped 86 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $106.70 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

The 12-member bipartisan supercommittee will probably announce today that it can’t reach agreement on deficit savings, according to a Democratic aide. Monday is the deadline for the Congressional Budget Office to receive information for scoring a proposal in advance of the supercommittee’s Nov. 23 target date for reaching a deal.

At stations in Rhode Island this week, the survey found average self-serve prices of $3.68 per gallon for midgrade unleaded, $3.81 for premium unleaded gasoline and $3.99 for diesel.