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The Dow Jones industrial index this week plunged to its lowest point in more than five years. Joblessness in the St. Louis metro area is at the highest level since President George W. Bush’s father occupied the White House. House foreclosures are rising, and values are falling.

The economic black cloud hanging over St. Louis and the rest of the nation only seems to be getting darker. But if there is a lone bright spot, it’s at the gasoline pump.

The price of regular gasoline in the region has declined for 25 successive days, reaching $3.20 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA Missouri. That’s down from $3.80 in the wake of Hurricane Ike.

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The decline in gasoline prices is directly linked to a plunge in the price of crude oil, which accounts for about 70 percent of the cost of gasoline.

Just three months ago, oil shot up to a record $147.27 a barrel, driven by a strong global economy and a lack of spare production capacity.

But uncertainty over the economy, at home and abroad, has let the air out of crude prices.

Friday, oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange continued to tumble to $77.70 a barrel.

"In the last 60 days, the wall of worry about supply has crumbled and a wall of worry about demand has replaced it," said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J.

The dramatic rise and fall of oil prices this year tops anything ever witnessed, Kloza said. "It took until 2005 to see $60 (a-barrel) crude and here the price has dropped $60 in a matter of weeks."

While the decline in gas prices witnessed the last three weeks might not be much consolation when 401(k) retirement accounts and other investment funds are drying up, it isn’t going unnoticed.

"I notice the difference" said Diana Dye of House Springs, a mother of four teenagers who paid about $40 to fill up her Chevrolet sedan Wednesday morning at the QuickTrip station at Gravois Avenue and Chippewa Street. "I’d rather spend the money somewhere else."

Ditto for Lisa Bailey of East St. Louis, who was buying gas at the Mobil Express station at Vandeventer and Forest Park. She tracks prices closely and makes regular trips across the river to save on gas, which is almost always more expensive in Illinois because of higher fuel taxes.

In fact, Bailey said she makes every effort to avoid driving to keep her gasoline bill low. After all, gasoline is still about 65 cents a gallon more than it was at this time last year.

"If it’s not important, if it’s not school or a job interview, we don’t do it," she said. "Otherwise, this has got to stay parked."

Higher prices in recent years have altered driving habits of millions of Americans.

The Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the Department of Energy, slashed its outlook for oil demand again in its most recent forecast to reflect a "deteriorating global economic outlook" and it estimates domestic consumption will fall by 830,000 barrels this year.

Kloza, the oil analyst, expects crude prices to stay in a range of $75 to $100 a barrel for the next 30 to 45 days.

"But at some point, worries about supply will trump worries about demand," he said. "Sometime in the next three years, we’re going to be talking $150 to $200 a barrel of oil again."

jtomich@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8320

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