With Oil Prices Crashing, Are Consumers Really Benefiting?

WTI crude hit a low of $43 and prices at the pump have fallen too, but does it make a difference for consumers?

Man uses a fuel dispenser to fill his car up with petrol at a petrol station on July 23, 2013. Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Oil prices got clobbered again Monday, falling to levels not seen since 2009. This is good for consumers, but how are they benefitting in practice?

WTI Crude fell 2.2 percent to $43.84 on Monday, as prices more than halved since the middle of 2014.

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Prices at the pump have also fallen, to $2.37 per gallon as of March 9, 2015. Last year, a gallon cost up to $3.63, so yes, consumers are feeling relief when they go to the gas pump.

U.S. regular conventional gas price St. Louis Fed.