Just in time for the holiday rush that will see millions of Americans hit the road, gas prices in the United States continued their downward trend last week. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the national average price of one gallon of regular (all formulations) fell to $3.14 on December 11, the lowest level since December of last year. The latest decline in gas prices comes on the back of a steep fall in crude oil prices, with West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) falling below $70 per barrel in December, down from more than $90 less than three months ago. Back then, the International Energy Agency had warned of a significant supply squeeze in the oil market following Saudi Arabia and Russia's extension of their production cut to the end of the year.
"Historically, crude oil tends to drop nearly 30 percent from late September into early winter with gasoline prices trailing the play,” said Andrew Gross, a spokesperson for AAA. “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.”
In the first half of 2022, gas prices had surged by more than 50 percent, fueled in large part by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent surge in global oil prices. When the national average price peaked above $5 in June '22, millions of Americans who rely on their car to get to work and around were left with unprecedented pain at the pump until prices started coming down in the middle of June, just in time for the summer holiday season. On August 11, the national average dropped back below $4 for the first time since March, according to data compiled by AAA. By the end of December, prices had dropped back to pre-war levels, with the national average price bottoming out at $3.09 in the last week of 2022.
