Michigan gas prices expect to drop to below $2 by Christmas

It's Christmas in July -- for gas prices.

Michigan motorists can expect to see their per-gallon prices plummet to $1.99 or less before Christmas, according to a GasBuddy.com forecast released today.

Nineteen other states are also most likely to see a decrease; August is when those at-the-pump costs will start to drop. GasBuddy.com predicts the national average will be $2.54 a gallon in August, $2.43 in September, $2.28 in October, $2.10 in November and $1.98 in December.

"We're confident that our projections give consumers more than accuracy; we think they'll help them identify some savings that should come in handy at Thanksgiving and Christmas," Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, said in a statement.

In 2014, the national average cost at the pump dropped more than $1.27 from Aug. 1 to Dec. 31, he added.

GasBuddy.com attributes the coming plunge to "regional, national and global supply & demand fundamentals that continue to place more downward pressure on crude oil prices than upward pressure" and expect the trend to continue "well into 2016."

Detroit's average gas prices have dropped 8.9 cents in the past week to $2.73, according to the real-time gas prices Web site's weekly analysis, released Monday. Prices were down 73.6 cents from the same time the year before and down 20 cents from the previous month.

The national average in the past week dropped 3 cents to $2.73.

In Michigan, the average gas price is currently $2.52, AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report reported.

Besides Michigan, the other states expected to have sub-$1.99 gas prices are Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Caroline, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Caroline, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Contact Zlati Meyer: 313-223-4439 or zmeyer@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @ZlatiMeyer