vidalia — Cars were doing a complicated tango at the Murphy’s USA in Vidalia Friday afternoon.

Reversing and performing 17-point turns, the drivers were all vying for the same prize — gas under $3.

The mood at the gas station was jovial, albeit frenzied, as residents filled up their tanks with the lowest priced gas in nearly 13 months.

Charles Zuccaro, co-owner of Independent Oil and Coal Company, said the price plunge was caused by crude oil prices dropping below $80 per barrel on Friday.

As far as the technical details behind the fall, motorists were unconcerned, they were just happy for the change.

Ferriday resident Beatrice Williams said with prices being so high for such a long time, she’s had to drive less and make fewer daytime trips to the store.

But now she can happily fill up her SUV.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she said when she saw the new price. “I hope it stays that way.”

Vidalia resident Debbie Nall said she was shocked at the price, too.

“It’s so much better than it was,” she said. “$2.99 is about what a loaf of bread costs us.”

Williams said she’d love to see the price go down to $2.25 per gallon, something she thought is a realistic and doable price per gallon.

Nall said she understands what gas prices are hinging on and that will dictate the future price of crude oil.

“I think it’s all going to depend on what the stock market does,” she said.

Zuccaro said he predicts further falls in fuel prices.

“I don’t think the stock market is going to do anything again soon,” he said.

And crude oil prices have been wavering between $90 and $100 a barrel and now are slowly falling.

“I’ve been saying all along, the crude will either get to $60 or $70 a barrel,” he said. “I’ve been telling people for a year, “Wait, what goes up will go down.’”

He said he believes that by March prices will be between $1.80 and $2.25 per gallon for unleaded gasoline, given the stock market’s performance remains low.

Coming back across the river into Natchez, gas prices fluctuate from $3.15 to $3.40 per gallon.

Natchez resident Odis Dunn even drove over to Vidalia just to get the cheaper gas at Murphy’s, where Assistant Manager Tempest Clay said they’ve definitely been receiving more traffic than usual.

As far as varying gas prices go, Zuccaro said it all depends on how fast a gas station can sell its inventory.

“In the case of the Murphy’s, they actually sell enough fuel each day to turn their inventory,” he said.

Which means they can sell cheaper fuel, whereas gas stations that can take as long as a week to sell all their fuel, have to sell at a higher price.

But in other cases, Zuccaro said some stations just want to tout that they sell the cheapest gas in town.

“Some people are dumb enough to think they’re going to be the cheapest in town no matter what,” he said. “It doesn’t last long, when the losses start mounting up on them and increasing, they get a dose of reality and raise the prices or they just quit selling.”