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Gas prices at several Triad stations have dropped below $3 a gallon for the first time since February, continuing a five-week plunge that still hasn’t hit bottom, a national forecaster said Monday.

“We don’t expect (prices) to stop at three,” said Doug MacIntyre, a senior oil analyst with the Energy Information Administration in Washington. “This is still part of a long-running decline.”

MacIntyre said prices could fall another 50 cents a gallon as early as Thanksgiving or the end of the year.

That would be good news for Triad drivers, who have seen the average price of a gallon of unleaded regular drop $1 a gallon since Hurricane Ike struck Gulf Coast refineries Sept. 13.

The storm disrupted gasoline supplies to the Triad — some stations ran out for several days — and sent prices soaring to a record average of $4.10.

After the storm, customers at The Groometown Store on Groometown Road in Greensboro paid $4.19 for a gallon of regular. On Monday, it cost them $2.87, a drop of $1.32 a gallon.

“They’re loving it,” said Jimmy Holyfield, the store owner. “They’re just glad I’ve got it.”

Holyfield and others say supplies have improved recently but distributors still can’t provide them a full load of gas.

“It’s been a real problem getting gas from the terminals,” said Carolyn Cox of Cox Oil in Thomasville, which supplies fuel to stations across North Carolina and parts of Virginia. “In a lot of cases, we have had to split (a load) between stores to make sure everybody gets some.”

At one point earlier this month, primarily because of supply problems, North Carolina had the most expensive gas in the lower 48 states, posting an average price of $3.76 a gallon. That was 30 cents higher than the rest of the nation.

As of Monday, the state ranked 12th highest.

“That’s still not great,” said Carol Gifford, public relations manager for AAA Carolinas.

But the average price had fallen to $3.09, just 17 cents above the national average.

Suppliers also point out that availability and the volatility in the market have caused tremendous price swings from one station to another.

For example, on Monday, according to one Web site, the price of gas in North Carolina ranged from a high of $3.69 at a Pure station in Fayetteville to a low of $2.57 at another Pure station in Elizabeth City. That’s a difference of $1.12 cents a gallon.

“It’s hard for us to explain,” Gifford said. “Right now, we are seeing a wide disparity in prices.”

Gifford and others say a number of possible explanations exist:

• Some station owners could be setting their prices higher in an effort to recoup loses after Hurricane Ike Some could be setting prices lower, trying to win back their customers
• Prices have been falling so quickly that some stations may be stuck with gas they bought two weeks ago at a higher price and can’t sell because a neighbor got a cheaper load.

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com.