That’s good news for consumers and the Trump administration after President Trump promised to bring down prices, but it could complicate a “drill, baby drill” agenda.
The national average gasoline price stood at $3.04 per gallon on Wednesday, according to AAA.
That’s down from $3.14 a month ago and $3.13 a year ago.
It’s also very low compared to where prices were over the past few years, when spikes occurred because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic recovery. At their highs, they reached more than $5 per gallon in the summer of 2022.
Analysts attribute the currently low prices to high levels of oil supply as OPEC+ nations bring more to the market.
“Over the last two years, OPEC+ has restored 2.2 million barrels a day of voluntary production cuts, and they’re in the midst of restoring another 1.65 million barrels a day over the next 10 or 11 months — and this is happening at a time when world oil demand growth has been lackluster,” said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.
“So the oil market, as we go into the last couple of months of the year, has become quite oversupplied, and that has resulted in lower oil prices, and consequently, for the consumer, lower gasoline prices,” Lipow said.
Seasonal fluctuations may also be playing a role, as demand is typically lower after the end of the summer travel season.
Trump celebrated the low prices, telling reporters last week that “energy is way down.”
Read more at TheHill.com.
