Analysts: Gas Prices to Drop Below $3

Now you’ve got one less excuse to not visit mom.

Less than a month from Thanksgiving, the busiest travel weekend of the year, the average price at the gas pump this week fell to its lowest level in four years – and may soon drop below $3 a gallon, the Energy Information Administration said.

On Monday, the average retail price for a gallon of gasoline was $3.06 – 64 cents cheaper than in June, and the lowest price overall since December 2010. But for more than half the gas stations in the U.S., the price slid even lower, to less than $3 a gallon.

Gas prices tend to dip come fall: Demand typically tails off from the summer tourism season, and refineries are allowed to switch to a cheaper fuel blend, one that uses less clean-burning ingredients that are otherwise barred during the summer.

[DATA MINE: Demand Drops, Supply Surges and Gasoline Prices Plummet]

But analysts point to the fracking-fueled U.S. energy production boom as the main reason prices are still falling. Increased American production has stolen market share from America's favorite pump-side whipping boys: OPEC and its biggest member, Saudi Arabia.

"The U.S. used to be a much bigger customer of the Saudis, but they’re not, because it's being producing here," says Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy. "The Saudis are feeling a little bit left out, so they want new customers. If they lower their price under what other OPEC countries are charging, companies might go to buy from them instead."

This all spells good news for airlines, shipping companies, manufacturers, and other transportation-based industries. Delta Airlines, United Continental Holdings, UPS and FedEx, for example, have all seen their stock prices rise over the past month. Oil companies, meanwhile, haven't lost money amid the cheap prices. Instead, they've merely lost some profit. 

The biggest winner: "Motorists," DeHaan says. Which means when you do hit the road to visit mom – or friends, or in-laws – there's no reason to show up empty-handed.