Gasoline A Dollar A Gallon In 2009

The CEO of Gulf Oil predicts that crude oil prices will fall to below $20 a barrel in 2009, which could result in a national average price for regular unleaded gasoline of less than a dollar a gallon.

While that's a refreshing change from the $4.50 a gallon prices we all paid this summer, do bear in mind that oil companies still need to be profitable in order to fulfill their role providing fuel for the other segments of the economy. The last thing we need is an argument about bailing out Big Oil.

If gasoline falls to these prices, it could be, in terms of real, inflation-adjusted dollars, the cheapest that gasoline has ever been.