Gas Prices Ahead of Labor Day Are the Lowest in 12 Years

Motorists traveling for Labor Day can expect the lowest gas prices for the long holiday weekend since 2004, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.

Despite recent seasonal increases – the national average has been rising daily for about two weeks after dropping or holding steady most of the summer, gasoline prices remain well below recent years. You’ll pay $2.25 a gallon on average in IN this weekend.

At some convenience stores in Cedar Rapids, owners intend to keep the prices down for travelers.

Virginia gas prices are the 5 lowest in the nation.

The average price for regular, self-serve gasoline at 19 Orangeburg-area stations was $1.94 a gallon, according The T&D’s survey of area stations Wednesday morning. In the August Short-Term Energy Outlook, EIA forecasts USA regular gasoline prices will decline to an average of US$1.95/gal. during the fourth quarter of 2016 and will average US$2.06/gal. for 2016. Pumping 15 gallons of gas costs $24 less today on average than it did four years ago. For Arizona the current average cost of a gallon of gas is $2.10, this time a year ago was $2.55 per gallon.

Though most signs point to declining pump prices for the remainder of the year, 2016 has a tough act to follow. Drivers in the Carolinas are enjoying some of the lowest fuel prices in the nation, with North Carolina’s average now at $2.10 per gallon and SC sitting at $1.96, the lowest in the country.

Volititiy in the market means that gas prices will be at its highest for the summer season, AAA says. Production at the refinery should return to normal this week.

The Federal Reserve Bank of NY reports that overall, since the second quarter of 2014 lower global demand expectations and looser supply have held oil prices down, but that trend has been reversing since the end of the first quarter this year. OPEC has considered cutting supply in the past, Weinholzer said, and producers are preparing for that possibility.

The global glut of oil and cheaper crude prices are the primary reason for cheaper fuel prices, the Energy Department explained.