Gas prices creep below $4 mark, but how long will decline last?

A few weeks ago, Lidia Garcia could remember when the billboard outside the 7-Eleven posted a gas price approaching $5 a gallon. This morning, the 7-Eleven cashier looked out the window at the corner of 11th Avenue and Lacey Boulevard and saw how much it had declined. "For a few days now, gas has been about $4 a gallon," Garcia said.

Today, the 7-Eleven was advertising $4 for a gallon of regular unleaded, $4.10 for mid-grade and $4.20 for premium.

Some places in Hanford actually dropped below the $4 barrier.

Kings Gas and Deli Mart, on Lacey Boulevard across from Hanford West High School, was at $3.99 a gallon for regular unleaded. So was Buford Star Mart at the corner of Irwin and Center streets.

Garcia and other Hanford residents have noticed the lower prices.

But they aren't singing for joy quite yet. They can still remember the glory days when prices were in the $2 range.

Some noted that gas prices in California are still higher than in many other parts of the country.

"I just came from Reno, and it was $3.68 a gallon," said Bo Walker, a retired Hanford resident filling up at the 7-Eleven.

Walker called the drop "encouraging," but added, "I think it's still high."

Gas prices have been on the decline nationwide in recent weeks, according to the Associated Press.

The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline at self-serve stations was $3.85 Friday, down almost 15 cents from two weeks ago.

Mid-grade went for $3.98 and premium went for $4.10. That's according to the Lundberg survey of 7,000 gas stations nationwide, released Sunday.

The cheapest gas was in Tulsa, Okla., where a gallon of regular cost $3.50. Anchorage, Alaska, was most expensive at $4.37.

The California average was $4.10, down 22 cents from two weeks ago.

The Western states were the only region in the U.S. where gas remained above $4 a gallon on average.

As of midday today, oil fell from 15 cents to $114.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil has fallen more than $30 from its July 11 high of $147.27.

For Hanford resident Karen Alzola, the drop is a good thing.

Alzola was filling up her Honda Odyssey van at the 7-Eleven. Total cost was about $70 for a full tank, she said.

"It's better. Right now, I don't have a job, so it helps a lot," Alzola said.

But she can remember the good old days.

"It's (still) kind of high. When I started driving, I think it was like $2.98," Alzola said.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2432.