Topline
The national average price for a gallon of gas has fallen for 10 consecutive days, reaching $3.74 on Thursday, according to data from GasBuddy, as demand cools and several key oil refineries in California and Great Lakes states come back online.
U.S. Gas prices have fallen for 10 straight days, according to GasBuddy.
Key Facts
Georgia boasts the cheapest gas in the country, with a gallon costing $3.18 on Thursday, according to AAA data, followed by Texas ($3.19), Mississippi ($3.26) and Arkansas and South Carolina ($3.28).
The national average has fallen more than 20 cents from a high of $3.95 on October 11, although prices are still 10 cents above their recent low of $3.64 on September 18.
Prices have fallen the most in California, after multiple refineries that convert oil to gasoline came back online after being temporarily shut down: A gallon cost $5.64 in the state on Thursday, 24 cents lower than a week ago and nearly 80 cents below the peak of $6.42 earlier this month, when Los Angeles set an all-time record ($6.49).
Although demand for gas has narrowly increased from 8.29 million barrels per day to 8.68 million barrels per day this week, according to the Energy Information Administration, analysts expect demand to slump in the coming weeks, as it typically does in the fall, with GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan writing in a statement this week that “seasonality is king in driving prices, not the desires or hopes of politicians.”
The drop in prices comes as the Biden Administration opened 14 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for sale in an attempt to cut costs ahead of the November 8 midterm elections, following the sale of 180 million barrels in March.
Key Background
Gas prices reached a record high in March, at $4.33 per gallon as crude oil prices spiked amid tight supplies and threats to the global energy market following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—passing the previous high of $4.11 in July 2008. They peaked in June, hitting $5.01 per gallon, before slowly falling again over a three-month period ending in September. Energy prices and high inflation have been a key issue in the leadup to the midterm elections, with Biden pleading with oil companies and gas station owners to cut prices and considering a ban on U.S. natural gas exports, which he later walked back on. Republican officials, however, have attacked Biden for not doing enough to combat rising prices by expanding U.S. production, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) blaming the increase on Biden’s “anti-American energy policies.”
Tangent
Analysts are about how U.S. energy costs will be impacted by a decision last month by OPEC+ oil-producing companies to slash production by 2 million barrels per day. California Energy Commission spokesperson Lindsay Buckley told Forbes the cuts are equivalent to a 1% reduction in supply. White House officials, meanwhile, pushed OPEC to pump more oil in an effort to reduce costs. Americans’ views toward Saudi Arabia reached a low after OPEC officials announced the cuts, with 53% of U.S. adults saying they have a negative view toward the world’s second biggest oil producer, according to a Morning Consult survey.
Further Reading
Gas Prices Rise For 7 Straight Days—Here’s Where It’s Most Expensive (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/10/27/us-gas-prices-fall-for-10-straight-days-nearing-3-in-southeast/