CALGARY — A big oil price drop over the last few days could come with one perk -- lower gasoline prices.

And if oil prices remain at current levels, down sharply from earlier this summer over fears of a double-dip recession, that could shave prices at the pumps, helping consumers squeezed by high fuel costs.

One bank economists predicted Tuesday that prices could drop another 15 per cent or so in the U.S. market if world oil rices stay around the $80 a barrel level.

On Tuesday, crude sank to its lowest level since last September on fears of a double-dip recession in the United States. Crude lost $2.01, or 2.5 per cent, to finish at US$79.30 per barrel.

That dip followed a 6.4 per cent decline on Monday, when investors had their first chance to react to news late Friday that Standard & Poor's downgraded U.S. long-term debt for the first time in history.

"Mixed in with the unnerving headlines, beleaguered U.S. consumers have received at least one piece of good news in recent days, as gasoline prices have followed plunging benchmark crude prices lower," CIBC economist Peter Buchanan said in a report Tuesday.

U.S. consumers were hit with a "de facto tax" of about $200 billion as gasoline prices hit three-year highs of $4 per gallon earlier this year.

A one-dollar decline in the price of crude -- the raw product used to make gasoline -- typically shaves three to four cents off of each gallon of gas. U.S. pump prices are averaging $3.60 now, but if crude stays in the $80-per-barrel range, it could mean a further reduction of 40 to 50 cents, Buchanan wrote.

In Canadian terms, that would be the equivalent of a drop from 95 cents per litre to between 84 and 82 cents per litre. Gas tends to be cheaper south of the border than in Canada due to differences in taxes and market dynamics.

"Given that sort of impact, the lift from cheaper gasoline isn't likely to be the magic bullet that single-handedly puts a sub-par recovery back on the rails," wrote Buchanan.

"But it does form part of our view that the U.S. economy will see disappointing growth rather than a return to outright recession in the next few quarters."

Price-tracking website Gasbuddy.com pegged the Canadian average for gasoline at about C$1.25 on Tuesday, down just a cent and a half from a month ago, when oil was around US$96 per barrel.

Consumers are likely perplexed as to why the drop in crude hasn't yet led to breaks at the pump, said Roger McKnight, a senior petroleum adviser at En-Pro International.

McKnight said one culprit is the lower Canadian dollar, which has dropped in recent weeks against the American greenback and even fell below par for a short time Tuesday.

"With crude being paid for in U.S. dollars, the Canadian public isn't seeing that drop as dramatically because they're using a weaker dollar to pay for it," he said.

The economic turmoil has consumers worried about their jobs and their retirement savings, and that could cause them to cut back on their fuel use.

"There's a fear factor here that's just running rampant right now, not only in the stock market, but with the consumer in general," said McKnight.

"I would say that demand has been anemic all year, and I can't see it picking up until such time as there's some positive news from the United States of America."

Meanwhile, experts do not foresee a pullback in oilsands investment as a result of the lower crude prices -- at least not to the same degree as in the 2008 downturn, when construction of new projects to ground virtually to a halt.

During the summer of 2008, crude hit a record near US$150 per barrel. By year-end it was in the $30-per-barrel range.

"I think that was an end-of-the-world scenario," said John Stephenson, portfolio manager at First Asset Investment Management.

The overnight implosion of investment house Lehman Brothers three years ago was a "cataclysmic event" that shocked markets, but this time the debt debacles in the United States and Europe have been known to the market for some time.

"It's a chronic, systemic issue that's going to slowly bleed us down lower. But do I see (crude oil) going down to $30? No. Could I see $70? Sure."

Oilsands operations, which require enormous amounts capital, are still profitable where crude is at now.

"But as you get down to $70 and stuff, it gets a little dicier for many of these projects," said Stephenson.

Some observers said they expect the crude price rout to be short-lived.

"It's not a reaction, as far as I know, to any real change in the fundamentals," said Scotiabank commodities specialist Patricia Mohr.

Investors were betting debt worries in the United States and Europe will slow growth in those economies, thereby reducing global demand for energy.

"I'm not readily convinced of that," said Ralph Glass, with consulting firm AJM Deloitte.

AJM has been expecting crude to average $100 per barrel for the balance of 2011, and Glass said he's not prepared to lower his forecasts just yet.

"We're still seeing growth in other countries, like China, like India, and we've already seen flat or no growth in the U.S. and Europe anyway," he said.

"So I really think it is just a short-term reaction to what's happening in the U.S. and Europe as far as the economic growth potential."