As crude prices continue to fall, some local pumps are offering gas below $2 per gallon for regular unleaded.

The average per gallon price of regular unleaded gasoline in the Gary area was $2.118 Friday, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge report, less than half of its Sept. 16 high of $4.27 per gallon and down from $2.143 on Thursday, $3.175 a month ago and $3.117 on Nov. 14, 2007.

The national average for gas Friday was $2.152 a gallon, the AAA report stated.

The price of crude has dropped 60 percent since July, with light, sweet crude for December delivery falling 32 cents to $57.92 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday.

The continuing decreases in gasoline prices are mainly the result of lower crude oil prices coupled with lower demand, said Ron Planting, economist with the Washington D.C.-based American Petroleum Institute.

"Crude oil is the No. 1 factor in retail gasoline pricing," Planting said. "The current price is in the $58-a-barrel range, down from a record $145 a barrel in July. It all has to do with consumption behavior and the worsening of economic conditions around the world."

Beth Mosher, spokeswoman for AAA Chicago, said gasoline prices are falling throughout the country.

"Inventory levels are high, and oil prices are low," she said. "It's a great combination for gas prices."

Scott Imus, director of the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, said Friday if anyone would have told him two months ago a barrel of crude would have been selling in the $50 to $60 range, he would have told them they were crazy.

"Crude has fallen pretty dramatically, and it's the major component of what we pay at the pump," Imus said.