CBSN ChicagoWatch Now
Filed Under:gas prices, GasBuddy.com, Patrick DeHaan, Phil Flynn, Price Futures Group, Regine Schlesinger

CHICAGO (CBS) — Motorists will continue to enjoy the lower prices at the gas pump.

A couple Chicago energy analysts predicted prices will keep falling dramatically.

In the Chicago area, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was just under $3 as of Monday morning.

“We’re seeing prices as low as the $2.60s for some of the areas – DuPage, Cook County. Some areas outside of Chicago could see prices drop into the $2.30s,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com. “Northwest Indiana could see prices into the $2.20s.”

Phil Flynn, senior analyst for Price Futures Group in Chicago, said prices in the Chicago area could drop another 25 cents per gallon by the end of the year.

“We’ve already had the biggest drop since 2008, and they look like they’re going to go a lot lower,” he said. “So you’re going to be talking about, very easily, prices near $2.75 a gallon in the Chicago area here pretty soon.”

Flynn said, unless OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) cuts oil production, prices at the pump should keep dropping for some time to come. He said prices in the Chicago area could drop another 25 cents per gallon by the end of the year.

DeHaan said the drop in prices is the result of “a good old-fashioned price war,” with OPEC pressuring some of the new U.S. shale oil producers by glutting the market with oil.

“Motorists are saving tens of millions of dollars every minute of the day, versus last year,” he said.