National Average Price of Gasoline Continues to Drop

For the fourth straight week, the nation's average price of gasoline has declined, falling 6.2 cents compared to a week ago to $3.30 per gallon today, according to GasBuddy® data compiled from more than 12 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country. The national average is down 20.7 cents from a month ago and is 49.2 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 3.2 cents in the last week and stands at $3.67 per gallon-the lowest level since early 2022.

"It seems fitting that, in the run-up to Labor Day, the national average has fallen for four straight weeks to its lowest point since February, giving Americans one last chance to hit the road with gas prices being less of a factor," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. "GasBuddy is now tracking eight states where average gas prices are already below the $3 per gallon mark, along with nearly 20% of gas stations in the country selling gasoline at $2.99 or lower. These numbers will continue to look better every week as we move into fall. GasBuddy's Labor Day travel forecast, to be released tomorrow, will provide more good news about the millions of dollars Americans who are road-tripping will save compared to last year."

OIL MARKETS

After a lackluster trading week, oil was off to the races to start the new week, with Middle East tensions and Fed rate cuts helping to push oil prices higher. In early Monday trade, a barrel of WTI crude oil was last up $1.91 to $76.74 per barrel, up from last Monday's $76.40 start. Brent crude was also trading higher, rising $2.02 per barrel in early trade to $81.04, up from last Monday's $79.38 per barrel fetch. The anticipation that the Fed will begin to cut interest rates in September is giving market participants optimism that oil demand may see a global boost as borrowing costs decline, fueling economy growth. In addition, intensifying conflict between Israel and Hezbollah over the weekend raised the risk element that the violence could expand into a larger regional war. In addition, crude crossed the 200-day moving average last Friday, a bullish indicator, which may push oil even higher.

OIL AND REFINED PRODUCTS

Last week's report from the EIA showed a fairly robust 4.6 million barrel decline in oil inventories, which now stand 5% below the five-year average for this time of year, while the SPR rose 600,000 barrels. Gasoline inventories fell some 1.6 million barrels, while distillates were reported to drop 3.3 million barrels. Refinery utilization rose some 0.8 percentage points to 92.3%, while implied gasoline demand, EIA's proxy for retail demand, rose 147,000 barrels to 9.19 million barrels per day. Total U.S. oil inventories are now up by 18.5 million barrels versus a year ago.

FUEL DEMAND

According to GasBuddy demand data driven by its Pay with GasBuddy™ fuel card, U.S. retail gasoline demand saw a rise of 1.9% for the week ending August 24 (Sun-Sat). Broken down by PADD region, demand rose 2.1% in PADD 1, rose 1.8% in PADD 2, rose 1.8% in PADD 3, rose 0.1% in PADD 4, and rose 3.7% in PADD 5. GasBuddy models U.S. gasoline demand at 9.15 million barrels per day.

GAS PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.19 per gallon, down 10 cents from last week, followed by $3.29, $2.99, $3.09, and $3.39 rounding out the top five most common prices.

The median U.S. gas price is $3.21 per gallon, down 7 cents from last week and about 9 cents lower than the national average.

The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.39 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.74 per gallon.

The states with the lowest average prices: Oklahoma ($2.79), Mississippi ($2.85), Texas ($2.87).

The states with the highest average prices: Hawaii ($4.55), California ($4.53), and Washington ($4.13).

Biggest weekly changes: Ohio (-15.5c), Illinois (-12.3c), South Carolina (-12.3c), Oklahoma (-12.1c), New Mexico (-11.1c)

DIESEL PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. diesel price stood at $3.69 per gallon, unchanged from last week, followed by $3.39, $3.59, $3.49, and $3.79 rounding out the top five most common prices.

The median U.S. diesel price is $3.59 per gallon, down 3 cents from last week and about 8 cents lower than the national average for diesel.

Diesel prices at the top 10% of stations in the country average $4.52 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.99 per gallon.The states with the lowest average diesel prices: Texas ($3.15), Oklahoma ($3.15), and Mississippi ($3.35).

The states with the highest average diesel prices: Hawaii ($5.35), California ($4.84), and Washington ($4.40).

Biggest weekly changes: Utah (-6.7c), Delaware (-6.4c), Tennessee (-6.3c), Oklahoma (-6.2c), Alabama (-6.1c).