National Average Slips for 6th Straight Week; $2.99 Coming Into View

For the sixth straight week, the nation’s average price of gasoline has declined, falling 7.2 cents compared to a week ago to $3.22 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 22.5 cents from a month ago and is 58.8 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 4.5 cents in the last week and stands at $3.62 per gallon—the lowest since early 2022.

“Impressively, for the sixth straight week, gas prices have dropped to their lowest since winter. GasBuddy now counts 11 states and over 45,000 stations with gas prices below $3 per gallon,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “We fully expect gas prices will continue to drop as Americans drive less with the onset of fall. With oil prices falling below $70 per barrel, their lowest since 2021, there’s solid room for gas prices and diesel to continue falling for some time. We expect the national average could fall below $3 per gallon as early as October for the first time since 2021, which would be music to the ears of motorists and certainly to politicians who are angling to be elected this fall.”

OIL MARKETS

Last week saw a notable decline in oil prices, with economic concerns weighing heavily on oil markets, pushing them down some 8%, falling to their lowest level since 2021. A weaker-than-expected jobs report Friday heightened concerns that in addition to China’s faltering economy, the U.S. may also slip deeper into a slowdown. OPEC+ members did reverse course and delay returning oil production to the market given oil’s decline below $70, but even that news didn’t inspire much rebound. In early Monday trade, WTI crude futures were up 73 cents to $68.40 per barrel, over $4 lower than last week’s $72.87 per barrel fetch. Brent crude was also in the green Monday morning, rising 66 cents to $71.72 per barrel, nearly $4 lower than last Tuesday’s $75.48 per barrel fetch.

OIL AND REFINED PRODUCTS

Last week’s report from the EIA showed a large 6.9 million barrel drop in oil inventories, while the SPR rose another 1.8 million barrels. Domestic crude oil production was unchanged at 13.3 million barrels per day. Gasoline inventories rose 800,000 barrels while distillates fell 400,000 barrels. Implied gasoline demand, EIA’s proxy for retail demand, slipped 369,000 barrels to 8.94 million per day. Refinery utilization was unchanged at 93.3%.

FUEL DEMAND

According to GasBuddy demand data driven by its Pay with GasBuddy™ fuel card, U.S. retail gasoline demand saw a fall of 3.8% for the week ending September 7 (Sun-Sat). Broken down by PADD region, demand fell 2.8% in PADD 1, fell 4.0% in PADD 2, fell 6.1% in PADD 3, fell 2.6% in PADD 4, and fell 3.3% in PADD 5. GasBuddy models U.S. gasoline demand at 8.79 million barrels per day.

GAS PRICE TRENDS
The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $2.99 per gallon, down 20 cents from last week, followed by $3.09, $3.19, $3.29, and $2.89 rounding out the top five most common prices.

The median U.S. gas price is $3.09 per gallon, down 10 cents from last week and about 13 cents lower than the national average.

The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.42 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.63 per gallon.

The states with the lowest average prices: Oklahoma ($2.73), Mississippi ($2.74), Louisiana ($2.77).

The states with the highest average prices: California ($4.62), Hawaii ($4.61), and Washington ($4.08).

Biggest weekly changes: Ohio (-16.8¢), Florida (-14.5¢), Michigan (-11.8¢), South Carolina (-11.6¢), Kentucky (-11.5¢)

DIESEL PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. diesel price stood at $3.49 per gallon, down 10 cents from last week, followed by $3.59, $3.69, $3.39, and $3.29 rounding out the top five most common prices.

The median U.S. diesel price is $3.49 per gallon, down 8 cents from last week and about 13 cents lower than the national average for diesel.

Diesel prices at the top 10% of stations in the country average $4.54 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.98 per gallon.

The states with the lowest average diesel prices: Oklahoma ($3.12), Texas ($3.13), and Mississippi ($3.25).

The states with the highest average diesel prices: Hawaii ($5.32), California ($4.87), and Washington ($4.38).

Biggest weekly changes: Florida (-8.3¢), Louisiana (-8.0¢), New Mexico (-7.8¢), Texas (-7.8¢), Colorado (-7.6¢).