Gas prices continued a nationwide retreat this week. The average price at the pump this morning nationwide is $3.19, according to AAA. That’s six cents lower than last week and 22 cents lower than a month ago. At more than half the nation’s gas stations, the average price is under $3 a gallon.
Fox Business reports, “analysts predict that by Christmas, the national average gas price could fall below $3 per gallon for the first time since 2021.
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The news comes even though the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) voted to cut oil production last week.
Bloomberg reports that traders are “doubtful that deeper supply cuts by OPEC+ will be effective.”
“Instead of viewing it as coal in the stocking,” says AAA spokesperson Andrew Cross, “the oil market response has thus far been a resounding meh.” Gross predicts that the national average pump price “may dip” below $3 per gallon “by the end of the year.”
Prices are declining even though demand remains higher than a year ago. Americans used 8.5 million barrels of gasoline per day the week ending Dec. 1 (the most recent week for which data are available), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That’s higher than the 8.3 million used the same week last year.
