Gas Prices Drop for 7th Straight Week, 18 States Below $3

For the seventh straight week, the nation’s average price of gasoline has declined, falling 6.9 cents compared to a week ago, and stands at $3.15 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 26.2 cents from a month ago and is 70.5 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 4.6 cents in the last week and stands at $3.57 per gallon—the lowest level since 2021.

“Gasoline prices continue to crumble across nearly the entire nation, with average prices below $3 per gallon in 18 states, with some 65,000 stations selling below that psychological mark. Diesel prices are also falling and are at their lowest level in nearly 1,000 days,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “With the change to winter gasoline happening today at most stations across the country, the outlook is bright for the national average to continue to make a run at falling to $2.99 per gallon for the first time since 2021. But while nearly all states are seeing prices drop, refinery maintenance and some outages at California refineries have led to tight supply and rising prices—a situation I hope can be remedied by the end of the month and help California join in on the decline.”

OIL MARKETS

After declining for several weeks, oil markets finally saw a reversal last week with gains across the board, however, plenty of volatility is expected in the weeks ahead as OPEC continues to mull over the timing of restoring oil production. In early Monday trade, a barrel of WTI crude oil was up 87 cents to $69.52 per barrel, slightly above last week’s $68.40 start. Brent crude oil was also trading higher in early trade, up 75 cents to $72.36, a slight increase from last week’s $71.72 per barrel start. With Hurricane Francine now clear of the Gulf, restoration efforts have begun to start re-opening platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, a process that may take time as crews return to normal operations. Economic weakness has also remained as one of the bearish factors holding oil prices down.

OIL AND REFINED PRODUCTS

Last week’s report from the EIA showed an 800,000 barrel rise in crude oil inventories, which are about 4% below the five-year average for this time of year. Gasoline inventories picked up 2.3 million barrels while distillate inventories also rose by 2.3 million barrels. Refineries operated at 92.8% of their capacity, producing 9.4 million barrels of gasoline per day and 5.2 million barrels of distillates. Implied gasoline demand fell by 460,000 barrels to 8.48 million barrels per day.

FUEL DEMAND

According to GasBuddy demand data driven by its Pay with GasBuddy™ fuel card, U.S. retail gasoline demand saw a rise of 0.2% for the week ending September 14 (Sun-Sat). Broken down by PADD region, demand rose 0.4% in PADD 1, rose 0.4% in PADD 2, rose 2.3% in PADD 3, fell 4.6% in PADD 4, and fell 2.9% in PADD 5. GasBuddy models U.S. gasoline demand at 8.83 million barrels per day.

GAS PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $2.99 per gallon, unchanged cents from last week, followed by $3.09, $2.89, $3.19, and $2.79 rounding out the top five most common prices.

The median U.S. gas price is $3.01 per gallon, down 8 cents from last week and about 14 cents lower than the national average.

The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.46 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.53 per gallon.

The states with the lowest average prices: Texas ($2.68), Tennessee ($2.69), Mississippi ($2.69).

The states with the highest average prices: California ($4.68), Hawaii ($4.58), and Washington ($4.07).

Biggest weekly changes: Indiana (-15.6¢), Ohio (-13.7¢), Texas (-11.9¢), South Carolina (-11.5¢), Illinois (-10.9¢)

DIESEL PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. diesel price stood at $3.49 per gallon, unchanged from last week, followed by $3.59, $3.39, $3.69, and $3.29 rounding out the top five most common prices.

The median U.S. diesel price is $3.49 per gallon, unchanged 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 $4.49 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.89 per gallon.

The states with the lowest average diesel prices: Texas ($3.03), Oklahoma ($3.12), and Mississippi ($3.20).

The states with the highest average diesel prices: Hawaii ($5.33), California ($4.88), and Washington ($4.35).

Biggest weekly changes: South Dakota (-9.9¢), Texas (-9.9¢), Vermont (-9.8¢), Maryland (-8.9¢), Illinois (-8.5¢).