海角大神

The聽price聽of聽oil聽plunged to its lowest level in nearly six months Friday, falling below $100 per barrel for the first time since February. A drop in gasoline聽prices聽can't be far behind.

It's a welcome trend for motorists, with the summer driving season just around the corner. And it eases some pressure on the U.S. economy, which has shown only agonizingly slow growth in the nearly three years since the Great Recession ended.

Oil聽fell $4.05, or 4 percent, to $98.49, after a weak U.S. jobs report offered the latest evidence that the global economy is weakening, possibly reducing demand for聽oil. At the same time, there is mounting evidence that world聽oil聽supplies are growing.

"The jobs report was the coup de grace," said Judith Dwarkin, chief energy economist at ITG Investment Research. "But it's hard to see how聽prices聽could have stayed on the boil given ample supplies and continued economic uncertainty."

For the week,聽oil聽fell more than $6 and is now about $12 below its February high. U.S. gasoline聽prices聽have fallen to $3.80 per gallon from a peak of $3.94 in early April.

Now they could go as low as $3.50 per gallon by July 4, according to Tom Kloza, Chief聽Oil聽Analyst at theOil聽Price聽Information Service.

Tony Wei, a mechanical engineer from Piscataway, NJ., will welcome lower聽prices. He travels 100 miles every day to and from his job in Morris County, N.J. He's also planning a 500-mile trip to Canada and a 400-mile trip to southwest Virginia this summer in his Honda Accord.

"Definitely, I'm going to notice it," he said. "I buy so much gas."

The picture of the聽oil聽market is the reverse of just a few months ago. Then, world聽oil聽demand looked to be rising quickly at the same time that world supplies were threatened by a host of small production outages and the potential for drastically reduced production from Iran, the world's third-biggest exporter.

Those developments raised the prospect that world supplies would be at their most tenuous just as the summer driving season arrived in the developed world. The聽price聽of U.S. benchmark聽oil聽rose to about $110. The聽price聽for international聽oil聽used to make most of the gasoline in the U.S. spiked even higher, to $128 per barrel.

Gasoline聽prices聽in the U.S. appeared to be on track to soar past $4 per gallon nationwide, another burden for U.S. consumers already suffering from high unemployment and pitiful wage growth.

Now the worst of those聽price聽fears have melted away for a number of reasons:

鈥� Falling demand: A spreading recession in Europe and slow growth in the U.S. suggests energy consumption, which fell 0.4 percent worldwide in the first quarter, will remain weak.

鈥� Growing supplies: Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members are pumping more聽oil. Energy companies are employing cutting-edge drilling technology to ramp up production across the globe. World聽oil聽supplies grew on average by 1.35 million barrels per day in the first quarter, and producers should easily meet demand in the coming months.

鈥� Easing political tensions: The West's nuclear standoff with Iran appears to be cooling off. The threat of conflict 鈥� and less Iranian crude on the market 鈥� helped push聽oil聽prices聽past $100. But now Iran and the West are planning talks.

The聽price聽of聽oil聽hasn't dropped this much since Dec. 14, 2011, when it fell by $5.19, or 5.2 percent, to $94.95 per barrel.

Oil聽prices聽may drift even lower in coming weeks, but analysts don't expect a dramatic plunge. World demand, though weaker than predicted, is still expected to set a record this year.

While Iran and the West are talking again, similar talks have not led to a resolution in the past. A breakdown in those talks could renew fears of supply disruptions and send聽prices聽back up.

Unfortunately, while the drop in聽oil聽and gasoline聽prices聽should help the U.S. economy 鈥� or at least insulate it from further damage 鈥� it isn't likely to give the economy a major boost, economists say.

A 14-cent drop like the one seen recently would save the typical American household $13 over a month. If sustained over a year, that drop would save U.S. drivers about $20 million.

"The problems plaguing the U.S. economy are much bigger than the聽oil聽price," Dwarkin said.