Gasoline prices below $3 in Kane, DuPage, Lake counties

Some suburban drivers are enjoying gasoline prices that dipped below $3 a gallon in some spots, the lowest price in almost four years, according to price-tracking website Gasbuddy.com.

The price fell to $2.97 Friday for unleaded at the BP Amoco station at Randall Road and McKee Street in Batavia. On Wednesday eve ing, it was down to $2.92.

In DuPage County, you could get gasoline for $2.89 at the Thornton's station at North Aurora Road and Ogden Avenue, Naperville. A Vernon Hills Mobil station had it for $2.99, as did a BP station on Route 31 in Elgin.

In northwest Cook County, prices were still north of $3, with stations selling it for as low as $3.14 in Schaumburg and Palatine.

Prices are lower at warehouse-membership stores, such as the Sam's Club in Batavia, where it was $2.88 on Wednesday.

The last time gasoline was less than $3 a gallon in the Chicago area was in December 2010.

Prices have dropped as the price of crude oil decreased the last few months, and is about $18 less a barrel than it was at this time last year, according to a report released Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration. Inventory is also up.

Ten years ago this month, gasoline cost on average $2.22 a gallon in the Chicago area, according to GasBuddy. According to the federal government's CPI inflation calculator, $2.22 in 2004 had the purchasing power of $2.80 in 2014 dollars.

And as evidence of the volatility of such pricing, two gas stations on Route 31 on the north end of Elgin started the day Wednesday with prices at $2.99 a gallon; by late that afternoon, the cost was $3.25 per gallon.