The oil industry on Thursday reveled in the glow of low pump prices ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, when about 38 million drivers will take advantage of the lowest gasoline prices since 2005.
The American Petroleum Institute touted domestic oil production as the reason why those millions of drivers will be saving money at the pump on their holiday road trips compared with last year. Erica Bowman, chief economist at API, said the country’s “energy renaissance” is the leading cause of low pump prices.
“The benefits for U.S. consumers … are hard to overstate,” she said.
According to AAA, U.S. drivers have already saved $15 billion on gas in 2016 as compared to the same point in 2015. AAA also reported that the gas prices are the lowest they’ve been in 11 years.
However, prices have climbed 35 cents since January, according to the Energy Information Administration, as the price of crude oil climbs. Crude oil rose beyond $50 a barrel on Thursday for the time since November.
AAA expects 700,000 more drivers to be on the road this year as compared to 2015.
“Americans are eagerly awaiting the start of summer and are ready to travel in numbers not seen in more than a decade,” said Marshall Doney, AAA President and CEO.
Bowman attributes that surge in road trips to the continually high levels of domestic oil production.
However, that production is threatened by regulations from the Obama administration, a need to modernize the energy infrastructure and more pipelines that need to be built to safely transport fuel, she said.
“We must have a regulatory system in place that doesn’t hinder energy production and doesn’t threaten our energy supply or price,” she said.
