The Energy Department's weekly survey is just out and the average price of a gallon of a self-serve regular in L.A. was $2.970 for the week ended Sept. 11, down from $3.027 a week earlier and $3.132 the week before that. The last time it was under three bucks was April 17. By the way, oil prices have fallen so sharply - more than $11 a barrel since July - that some of the OPEC ministers are hinting about cutting back on production (we can never win, right?). But in Vienna today, the oil ministers decided to hold production steady - for now.