Party Time: Gas Prices Expected to Drop 50 Cents a Gallon. By Experts!

Before you pop the champagne, you may want to keep in mind that these same "experts" were quite concerned about continued rising prices just a couple of weeks ago.

In other words, they don't have a clue.

Even a 50-cent drop at this point would be nothing to write home about. Heck, that's only half the Kroger discount nowadays. Gas is currently up about $1.30-a-gallon since last August - including a 50-cent spike in just the last two months.

Wake me up when gas is in the $2.50 range again. That's still too high for my taste, but at least siphoning isn't much of an issue at those levels.

Some relief from suffocating gas prices will likely arrive just in time for summer vacation. Expect a drop of nearly 50 cents as early as June, analysts say.

After rocketing up 91 cents since January, including 44 straight days of increases, the national average this past week stopped just shy of $4 a gallon and has retreated to under $3.98. A steady decline is expected to follow.

It might not be enough to evoke cheers from people who recall gas stations charging less than $3 a gallon last year. But it would still ease the burden on drivers. And it might help lift consumer spending, which powers about 70 percent of the economy. A 50-cent drop in prices would save U.S. drivers about $189 million a day.

Typically, gas prices peak each spring, then fall into a summertime swoon that can last several weeks. This year’s decline should be gradual but steady, said Fred Rozell, the retail pricing director at the Oil Price Information Service.

We'll see if that "typical summertime swoon" can withstand OPEC choking off supply and Obama's stubborn refusal to drill.