Torontonians could gas up on Saturday for 72.8 cents per litre, an amount just over half the mid-September price.
On Tuesday, the Calgary consulting firm M.J. Ervin and Associates said the national Canadian average was 80.7 cents per litre. It put Toronto's price at 77.8 cents.
On Sept. 13, Toronto's price reached almost $1.39 per litre as hurricane Ike threatened offshore oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico and refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast.
But about that time, the futures price for oil dropped below US$100 per barrel for the first time since early April.
On July 11, oil peaked at US$147.27 per barrel. A week later, the national price for gasoline was $1.39 per litre, although Torontonians could gas up for about $1.29 per litre.
Since that peak period, the worsening global economic outlook has depressed demand for oil and sent prices tumbling.
On Friday, U.S. crude oil closed at US$40.81 per barrel, the lowest close in four years.
One analyst even suggested oil could eventually sag to US$20 per barrel if the global recession spreads to China.
A growing middle class in China and India has helped power oil's six-year run-up in price. Both those countries have cut domestic prices, the first such move in almost two years, as a way to prop up their economies.
However, Alberta has seen several companies curtail investment in oilsands development because of the pessimistic outlook for oil's price -- a move that has economic repercussions for all of Canada.
Analysts suggest that as companies cut back on exploration and development, the supply of oil will drop.
When the global economy picks up, they say oil prices will then rebound, possibly to the US$100 per barrel level.
In the meantime, OPEC, the global oil cartel that controls about 40 per cent of crude oil production, will be meeting on Dec. 17 in Algeria.
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has indicated he would like to see a price of about US$75 per barrel.
With files from The Associated Press
