The average U.S. gasoline price fell to “the lowest level since May 2021” over the weekend, Patrick De Haan, Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy, highlighted in a blog posted on the GasBuddy website on Monday.
“Nearly every state saw average gas prices fall heading into Thanksgiving, with the national average dipping below $3 per gallon for several consecutive days – falling to $2.95 per gallon over the weekend, the lowest level since May 2021,” De Haan said in the blog.
“With refinery maintenance largely complete and OPEC increasing oil production for December, oil prices have struggled. Combine those factors and you have a solid recipe for continued downward pressure on gas prices in the weeks ahead,” De Haan added.
“A few dozen stations are already offering gas under $2 per gallon, and we could see that number grow as we move further into the holiday season. It couldn’t come at a better time for Americans – with relief arriving just as the holidays kick off,” De Haan continued.
Monday’s GasBuddy blog stated that the nation’s average price of gasoline has fallen 8.5 cents over the last week and stands at $2.95 per gallon, 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 6.9 cents from a month ago and is 5.4 cents per gallon lower than a year ago,” the blog highlighted.
The GasBuddy blog also noted that the “most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $2.99 per gallon, unchanged from last week, followed by $2.89, $2.69, $2.79, and $2.59, rounding out the top five most common prices”.
The median U.S. gas price is $2.83 per gallon, down six cents from last week and about 12 cents lower than the national average, the blog stated, adding that the top 10 percent of stations in the U.S. average $4.35 per gallon, while the bottom 10 percent average $2.31 per gallon.
The states with the lowest average prices comprised Oklahoma, at $2.33 per gallon, Colorado, at $2.49, and Mississippi, at $2.50 per gallon, according to the blog, which revealed that the states with the highest average prices comprised California, at $4.51 per gallon, Hawaii, at $4.35 per gallon, and Washington, at $4.09 per gallon.
In a blog posted on its website on November 25, GasBuddy announced that the United States’ cheapest stations dropped the gasoline price to $1.99 per gallon ahead of Thanksgiving for the first time in four years.
“GasBuddy … today reported the first sub-$2 per gallon gas prices available without discounts or as part of a temporary promotion, making them the lowest prices seen in the U.S. since 2021,” GasBuddy stated in that blog.
The company noted in this blog that four stations located in Midwest City, Oklahoma, stood at $1.99 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline early Monday morning on November 24.
“It’s pretty compelling to see gas prices this low, falling ahead of Thanksgiving, and it signals what more Americans could experience in the coming months,” Patrick De Haan, said in that blog.
In its latest gasoline fuel update, which was released on December 2, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that the U.S. regular gasoline price averaged $3.062 per gallon on November 17, $3.061 per gallon on November 24, and $2.985 per gallon on December 1. The December 1 price was down $0.076 from the week ago price and down $0.049 from the year ago price, the update highlighted.
In its latest short term energy outlook (STEO), which was released on November 12, the EIA projected that the U.S. regular gasoline retail price will drop in 2025 and 2026.
According to this STEO, the EIA sees the U.S. regular gasoline retail price averaging $3.10 per gallon this year and $2.98 per gallon next year. The U.S. regular gasoline retail price averaged $3.31 per gallon in 2024, the EIA’s November STEO showed.
A quarterly breakdown included in the EIA’s latest STEO forecast that the U.S. regular gasoline retail price will come in at $3.02 per gallon in the fourth quarter of 2025, $2.88 per gallon in the first quarter of next year, $3.04 per gallon in the second quarter, $3.09 per gallon in the third quarter, and $2.91 per gallon in the fourth quarter. The U.S. regular gasoline retail price averaged $3.10 per gallon in the first quarter of 2025, $3.16 per gallon in the second quarter, and $3.14 in the third quarter, the EIA’s November STEO showed.
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