Oil Prices See Second Biggest Drop in History

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BY CHRISTINE SLUSSER

ANCHOR JENNIFER MECKLES

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Finally! Something good in the news! Orlando’s WFTV explains why drivers can give a sigh of relief at the pump... well, hopefully.

“At the start of the week, oil hit a two-year high at 114 a barrel. But just yesterday it dropped to just $97, which means instead of heading toward the $5 mark, gas prices are actually steadily dropping. But experts say it could take as long as two weeks for the numbers at the pump to actually reflect that.”

CBS reports gas purchases dropped for six straight weeks--and that lower prices may help bring those numbers back up.

REPORTER: “Oil prices tumbled nearly 9% today, but the damage has been done.”

TOM KLOZA: “We’re spending about 1.5-billion dollars a day just to fuel up our cars these days and in typical years, its been well under a billion.”

REPORTER: “Since January, gas on average is up more than .90-cents a gallon--that’s 30%.”

Oil prices have been steadily rising over the past year--and ABC reports this sudden drop is almost historic.

JIM AVILA: “A gas war. Yes, you heard right. Prices are already going down in some parts of the country. ... So what was the price?”

WOMAN: “Cheaper than down the street.”

AVILA: “Oil prices fell for the second day in a row. Look at this chart. A steady rise from $75 in May of last year, to more than $110 last week, and now--boom--the second biggest drop in history.”

...but even with the promises of good news, Las Vegas’ KLAS interviewed drivers at the pump--all of whom remain skeptical...

DARRYL PERKINS: "I think they're through the roof, and I think they're ridiculous, I mean, they say we have a shortage, I don’t think we have a shortage."

ELEANOR LIPSCOND: “They need to come down. I think we should use our reserves here. We have enough gas in this country, we don’t need the other country.”

There has been some creative solutions proposed for what to do about the rising prices. One response was a call to cut-off U.S. aid to Libyan rebels until they pump oil. One man interviewed on Fox News almost flew off his chair to give his opinion.

“Oil dropped 7 dollars a barrel this week. The Congress of the United States has allowed, thrown away the anti-trust laws major oil companies to dominate the oil market. You had eight major oil companies in the 90s, now you’ve got four. Its created a monopolistic thing-- this is no longer a free market operation at all, and we’re confusing foreign policy with oil. That’s crazy.”

...but what do you think? Will your summer be filled with low gas prices--or is the worst yet to come?

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Transcript by Newsy.