After a one-day dalliance with a rising price, the national average for a gallon of gas resumed its steady retreat, shedding four cents since last week to $3.20.
AAA says the main reason is a lower cost for oil, which is struggling to stay above $70 per barrel. The falling price comes just a week after OPEC+ announced voluntary production cuts of about 2 million barrels daily.
“Historically, crude oil tends to drop nearly 30 percent from late September into early winter with gasoline prices trailing the play,” said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson in a news release. “More than half of all US fuel locations have gasoline below $3 per gallon. By the end of the year, the national average may dip that low as well.”
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration , gas demand increased slightly from 8.21 to 8.47 million b/d last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks increased significantly by 5.4 million bbl to 223.6 million bbl. Despite low gas demand, supply growth has helped push pump prices lower. If oil prices remain low, drivers can expect pump prices to do the same during the holiday season.
According to GasPrices.AAA.Com, Thursday, Dec. 7’s national average of $3.20 was 20 cents less than a month before and 15 cents less than a year ago.
In the past month, the average price of regular gas in Florida dropped from $3.19 to $2.96, with Gadsden County dropping from $3.33 to $3, and Jackson County dipping from $3.20 to $2.92.
Erin Hill – Gadsden County News Service
