Gas prices in Utah have fallen to an average of $2.98 per gallon, according to travel services company AAA Utah, down from an average of $3.15 last month and a record $3.28 on May 31.

The slide could persist for a while because gasoline supplies and inventories are stable, even though oil futures settled at a record high above $78 Tuesday on expectations that crude inventories have fallen. The upside is that retail gas prices typically lag the oil futures market.

Utah's average price is still higher than the national mark of $2.88, but 13 states have higher prices than does Utah, which earlier this year had among the very highest gas prices in the country. And though Utah's average is still close to $3, the range in prices along the Wasatch Front remains wide. The highest recorded price in the state Tuesday afternoon was $3.25 at a Sinclair station in Monticello, yet many stations in the Salt Lake area were selling gas for less than $2.80 a gallon.

Ted Johnson, who owns two Salt Lake City businesses, was on the lookout for some of the cheap fuel as he drove to a job site. Johnson's home-inspection and stucco-repair enterprises use a fleet of eight vehicles, and to cope with high gas prices, he has begun assessing fuel surcharges to his customers.

After paying $2.91 per gallon several days ago, Johnson said Tuesday, "If I find some gas in the $2.70s, I'm filling up."

Kristen Clark of Cedar City also is hoping to see some relief, but in her case it's for diesel fuel prices.

Clark purchased a diesel-powered Volkswagen Jetta nearly three years ago to help her save on driving costs. At the time, diesel prices were about $1.60 per gallon, she said, much cheaper than the cost of unleaded gasoline.

But for much of the past year, the reverse has been true, and only recently have diesel prices been tracking unleaded prices more closely.

Clark, who logs on to www.utahgasprices.com regularly to check for the lowest prices reported by drivers as they traverse the state, said a few days ago unleaded prices in Cedar City were $3.05. Monday night, she saw stations selling unleaded for $2.99. Tuesday morning, prices at some locations had fallen to $2.96. Diesel prices in the city have dipped to $2.99 and are holding steady.

"At least we're below $3 [per gallon] now," she said.

Rolayne Fairclough, spokeswoman for AAA Utah, said ample fuel supplies should help keep prices down for at least a couple of weeks.

And the long-term outlook, according to at least one forecaster, looks good, as well.

Wood Mackenzie LTD, consultancy firm based in Scotland, said in a report this week that gasoline prices could decline by 2010 amid a ''potential oversupply'' of oil products. That decline, according to the report, could occur even as U.S. refining capacity will be expanding less than previously thought.

The report said that the adoption of alternative sources of fuels - including biofuels and natural gas - will contribute to that oversupply.

Some dispute the company's claim, but many industry experts believe, at the very least, that a number of factors could keep retail gasoline prices from escalating to levels seen earlier this year.

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* DOW JONES contributed to this story.

The cost of fuel