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U.S. drivers can expect to pay more on average to fuel their holiday journeys this Thanksgiving than in years past, despite falling gasoline prices.
Data from multiple price trackers show pump prices easing for consecutive weeks as of Monday, but not at rates fast enough to head off a new record high for Thanksgiving week.
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The average gas price declined to $3.64 per gallon, falling 11.9 cents on Monday compared to the week before, according to GasBuddy, which forecast a new record high gas price on Thanksgiving Day.
The number is down 16.4 cents from a month ago but is still 24.5 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, stressed the pace of the price drop is favorable to drivers even if prices are higher than in previous years.
“It’s not impossible that if oil markets hold here, we could see a national average of $2.99 around Christmas, certainly the gift that every motorist is hoping for,” De Haan said in a market note Monday. “Drivers shouldn’t be in a rush to fill up as prices will come down nearly coast-to-coast into the heavily traveled Thanksgiving holiday.”
Retail gasoline prices have waxed and waned since reaching their peak above $5 per gallon over the summer. Months of $100-plus per barrel oil, driven largely by volatility in the oil market associated with the war in Ukraine, kept prices elevated.
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Crude oil prices have since fallen steeply, with the global benchmark opening Monday at $87.74 per barrel. Analysts have pointed to bearish factors like lower demand in China, a major importer of crude oil, to explain dropping prices.
High fuel prices, including diesel and gasoline, have contributed to overall energy inflation this year. Energy prices are up 40% since January 2021 in the Consumer Price Index.
