The cheapest crude oil since January has refiners producing fuel at record rates, helping lower the cost of gasoline at pumps across the country. The average price for regular gasoline at U.S. pumps dropped 4.21 cents in the two weeks ended Aug. 22 to $3.4785 a gallon, according to Lundberg Survey Inc. The average is based on information obtained at about 2,500 filling stations by the Camarillo, California-based company. Prices are 8.01 cents lower than a year ago, the survey showed. Retail prices dropped as West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell below $94 a barrel. U.S. refiners are processing the most petroleum for this time of year in records dating back to 1989. “It’s crude oil at work,” Trilby Lundberg , the president of Lundberg Survey, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “The down factors outweighed the up factors. One of the many factors include robust U.S. oil production.” […]