Thinking low gas prices will go back up as fast as they went down?

Think again.

“At this point, that is not going to happen,” AAA spokeswoman Marie Dodds said.

She said the prices may rise a little, but the U.S. Department of Energy predicts the average price of gas in 2009 will hover around $2 a gallon and per-barrel prices around $51. A global decrease in demand for oil and the slipping economy are responsible for the plummeting price, Dodds said.

Global oil consumption was expected to drop by 500,000 barrels a day this year, according to the Department of Energy, and 2009 could see consumption drop another 450,000 barrels a day.

“This would be the first time since the late 1980s that world consumption would decline for two consecutive years,” according to an AAA press release.

The auto club is a little more reserved about its predictions. The release said the direction of prices may not be clear until the spring of 2009, just before the traditional summer price jump. Dodds said only a quick economic recovery will drive prices back up to record levels any time soon.

She said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may decide to cut production at its Dec. 17 meeting, which would add upward pressure to the price of oil.

Average prices statewide have gone down by almost $2.50 a gallon since reaching record highs above $4 in July. The price per barrel dropped $100 since the record high on July 11 of $147.

Thursday, average costs per barrel of oil rose to $48.

“Who knew after hitting a record high, oil would lose $100 a barrel in five months,” Dodds said.