Thousands of gas stations in the southern United Stateswill cost less than $ 4 a gallon of unleaded dipin the coming days and weeks There is a possibility. Americans are preparing for the peak of the driving season in July.
Gas BuddyPatrick DeHaan expects fuel costs to continue to fall below $ 3.99 in states such as South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansaw and Texas. increase. , Alabama, Arkansaw.
Gas prices, like oil prices, have been declining in the last three weeks.
US crude oil benchmark WestTexas Intermediate fell below $ 100 a barrel for the first time since May Wednesday. However, as of Thursday morning, WTI surged nearly 5% to over $ 103 per barrel.
The $ 103 number is well below $ 123.70 per gallon on March 8th.
The international benchmark Brent Crude temporarily fell below $ 100 per barrel on Wednesday for the first time since April. It also returned to just over $ 105 as of early Thursday morning.
DeHaan told USA TODAYthat the decline in gas and oil prices was caused by fears of a recession that discouraged consumers from buying.
According to the latest AAA figures, the national average price of a gallon of fuel on Thursday morning is $ 4.75, 10 cents cheaper than it was a week ago.
At this point last month, the average cost of a gallon of fuel is $ 4.92 I was standing in.
Despite the relatively low gas prices, Americans as a whole have more than 50% more fuel than this time last year when a gallon lead-free set driver returned an average of $ 3.137. I am paying a high cost.
Since then, prices have skyrocketed due to the surge in demand fromRussia's invasion of Ukraine, the disruption of the supply chain, and the decline in barrels in the market.
The Byden administration receives about 1 million barrels of oil per day from all over the country. It is releasing. According to recent reports, some of the Strategic Oil Reserves have been shipped to Europe and Asia, but.
De Haan said he expects gas prices to fall by 1-2 cents per gallon "every few days" in the coming weeks.
But Andrew Gross ofAAAis still premature to celebrate, as demand could increase again as many Americans go to the road later in the month. Said.
"Recently, domestic demand for gasoline has fallen and some of the pressure on pump prices has been removed. Currently, about 80% of stations are regularly sold for less than $ 5 a gallon. "Gross said.
"But July is the month with the highest demand, as more Americans usually go out on the road, so this tendency to ease prices can be short-lived."
