Drivers are receiving a nice gift just before the holidays. The price of gasoline has fallen to its lowest level this year after dropping every day for the last two months.
AAA’s national average price of regular gas is $3.24 a gallon, 26 cents cheaper than a month ago and 30 cents less than last year at this time. But that’s just the average. There are plenty of places where you can find cheaper fuel.
“GasBuddy now counts over 20,000 stations that are selling gasoline at $2.75 per gallon or less,” GasBuddy’s head of Petroleum Analysis, Patrick DeHaan, posted on X.
For example, the statewide average price of regular in Texas has fallen to $2.71 a gallon. The average price in Mississippi is $2.76 and $2.78 in Georgia. Eleven other states have average gas prices below $3 a gallon.
Gas remains expensive in a handful of states. California’s average price of regular is $4.88 a gallon, but a month ago it was $5.30 a gallon. The average price is $4.72 in Hawaii and $4.38 in Washington. Again, gas prices are much lower than they were a month ago.
Falling demand
One reason prices are falling is motorists are driving less. Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) show gas demand decreased from 9.49 to 8.95 million barrels a day recently.
Another reason for drivers’ good fortune is the decline in oil prices. World oil prices are near their lowest levels of the year, lowering costs for refiners, who have begun producing cheaper winter grades of gasoline.
But it’s not clear if oil prices will remain low for long. Goldman Sachs says it expects an extension of the unilateral production cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia to last through the first quarter of next year and could even cut more deeply.
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2023-11-28 18:02:38
