U.S. drivers are paying less than $2.50 a gallon at the pump for the first time in more than five years. Retail gasoline averaged $2.477 a gallon yesterday, data from the Heathrow, Florida-based motoring group AAA showed. That’s down from this year’s peak of $3.696 in April and the first time it has dipped below $2.50 since October 2009. By New Year’s Day, the fuel may be selling for $2.25 to $2.40, the lowest seasonally since 2008, AAA said by e-mail. Tumbling crude prices and rising fuel output have sent gasoline lower, leaving more money in the pockets of consumers. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries declined to reduce its output target at a meeting last month, letting prices drop to a level that may slow U.S. output that’s surged to the most in more than three decades. U.S. refineries operated at the highest level in more than nine […]