Gasoline Price Average Dipping Below $3 in 2022 Dubbed Unlikely

Since oil prices have been rising, it seems unlikely that the U.S. regular gasoline price average will dip below $3 per gallon this year.

That’s what an AAA spokesperson told Rigzone when asked if there was any chance the national average could dip below the $3 per gallon threshold.

“Oil prices would need to be around $60-$65 per barrel and gas demand would need to drop lower in order to see the national average move below $3 per gallon,” the spokesperson said.

At the time of writing, the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil is trading at $77.82 per barrel and the price of Brent crude oil is trading at $82.27 per barrel. The value of both commodities has steadily risen since December 9, when WTI closed at $71.02 per barrel and Brent closed at $76.1 per barrel.

As of December 29, the average price of regular gasoline in the U.S. is $3.158 per gallon, according to the AAA gas prices website. Yesterday’s average was $3.133 per gallon, the week ago average was $3.101 per gallon, the month ago average was $3.521 per gallon, and the year ago average was $3.283 per gallon, the AAA site shows.

According to a U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) chart showing weekly U.S. regular all formations retail gasoline prices, the last time gasoline dipped below the $3 per gallon mark was in May last year. The chart shows a peak of $4.962 per gallon, which was achieved in June 2022, and a low of $0.907 per gallon, which was achieved in February 1999.

On December 23, U.S. President Joe Biden took to Twitter to highlight that “the average gas price is now 44 cents below levels when Russia invaded Ukraine”.

“All the increases since the beginning of Russia’s attack have been wiped out,” he added in the statement.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com