Will gas prices keep going down for the Holidays? Here’s what the experts say
The average price per gallon of gasoline has been dropping steadily for the past several weeks. The good news is that the trend is expected to continue.
Drivers across the United States have been watching prices fall for the past several weeks. The national average is now over 30 cents per gallon cheaper than it was a month ago according to AAA gas price tracker. There have been seven straight weeks of the national average price decreasing.
There are now 9 states where the average price per gallon for regular is below $3, and four more states may soon join them according to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “While the national average is now at its lowest since March, the decline is likely to continue for at least another couple of weeks,” says De Haan.
Will gas prices keep going down for the Holidays? Here’s what the experts say
The lower prices at the pump are being driven by a few factors. The cost of crude oil is one of the biggest drivers of price swings in gasoline. Despite production cuts from OPEC, worries about significant faltering of demand for the raw material has helped the price of crude fall for three straight weeks.
The mechanics of supply and demand are also at work on the price of gasoline directly. “US gasoline demand was down 9.0% from last Wednesday and down 5.6% from the average of the last four Wednesdays,” according to GasBuddy data.
Gas prices also have seasonal shifts, with prices generally falling in the winter months when states allow drivers to fill up with winter blends. These are cheaper for refineries to produce as additives are not needed to prevent evaporation in the hotter summer months.
Without any major disruptions to the crude oil market or sudden supply restraints, the price of gasoline is expected to continue to drop in the near term. However, analysts are still worried about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict becoming a wider Middle East conflict. That would send jitters through the markets and potentially send the price of crude oil soaring, much like what happened after Russian invaded Ukraine.