The five-county Philadelphia area was averaging a 12-cent drop from Friday, to $3.17 for a gallon of regular no-lead, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

South Jersey's average was down 9 cents, to $2.92.

The national average is down 14 cents, to $3.21.

The auto club said that six states now have averages below $3 a gallon: Oklahoma ($2.75), Missouri ($2.81), Kansas ($2.82), Iowa ($2.91), Ohio ($2.94) and Minnesota ($2.95).

Diesel prices also are down: The Philly area is averaging $3.99 a gallon, down 7 cents over the weekend - which the auto club said marks the first time the average has been under $4 a gallon since March 8. The price of diesel hit $5.02 a gallon June 17.

South Jersey is seeing $3.68 a gallon for diesel, down 3 cents over the weekend; that's down from a high of $4.76, reached May 29.

The national diesel average is $3.84, down 9 cents. The national average reached $4.85 July 17.

A pledge by European countries to keep banks from collapsing injected optimism into oil markets today, with prices rebounding from a 13-month low to rise above $80 a barrel. Gasoline and heating oil also recorded substantial gains.

The market was also supported by OPEC's decision to call a special meeting next month amid members' concerns about prices that have fallen about 45 percent since soaring to a record $147.27 on July 11.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery was up $3.82 to $81.52 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by noon in Europe. The contract fell Friday $8.89 to $77.70, the lowest price since Sept. 10, 2007.

"The turnaround in oil today is due primarily to the European bank rescue plan," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst at consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "It's a shot in the arm, though it's too early to know if this will restore confidence to the credit markets."