Gas prices ease for 8th straight day

Gas to rise 5-15 cents: Analysts

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gasoline prices continued to decline, easing for the eighth straight day, as Tropical Storm Hanna dumped heavy rain on the entire eastern coast of the United States, according to a nationwide survey of gas station credit card swipes.

The average price of regular unleaded gasoline fell 0.7 cents to $3.658 a gallon from $3.665 a day earlier, motorist group AAA said Monday.

With Hanna gone, Hurricane Ike is now front and center and on a path toward the Gulf of Mexico. The Category 2 storm could regain strength as it heads toward the Texas/Louisiana border, according to the latest hurricane center track map. Gas prices eased in both those states. Prices also slipped in the Carolinas and Georgia.

Nationwide, Alaska and Hawaii remained the two states with gas prices still tracking above $4 a gallon. The cheapest gas was now found in New Jersey, where prices averaged $3.431 a gallon.

Crude prices have trended lower amid heightened concern about weakening demand. Last week, oil prices fell to their lowest level in five months. Worries about Ike pushed prices up early Monday. Crude futures for October delivery rose $1.10 a barrel to $107.33.

Meanwhile, Gas has fallen about 46 cents from the record high average of $4.114 that AAA reported on July 17, but they are still 83 cents above this time last year.

Also, Americans had cut back on driving during the typically heavy traffic summer months. In fact, demand for gas dropped off by 3% to 4% during the June-to-August period and driving decreased during the same time frame. It remains to be seen whether the trend will hold.