Gas and Oil Prices Dip in Time for Busiest Travel Day of the Year

Gas prices are displayed at an Exxon gas station on July 29, 2022 in Houston, Texas.Photo: Brandon Bell (Getty Images)

It’s the busiest travel day of the year, so there’s no better time to bring back our old pal: Gas Price Watch. According to AAA, The average price of a gallon of gas is now sitting at $3.61 per gallon across the country, which is down 13 cents from just a week ago. A lot of that can be chalked up to a recently-plummeting crude oil price. It’s currently hovering around $80 per barrel.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a bleak economic outlook in the U.S. has dragged oil prices down, and U.S. crude has now fallen for four consecutive seasons. The lower prices have been exacerbated by a recent selloff due to a surge in Covid-19 cases in China. Analysts don’t expect Washington, D.C.’s upcoming move to end releases from the strategic petroleum reserves to raise oil prices very much.

So, while dropping oil prices may be cause for concern for the economy as a whole, it is coming at a pretty opportune time to help people at the pump. The day before Thanksgiving is traditionally the busiest travel day of the year. Millions of Americans will hit the roads today to eat dry turkey and talk about Elon Musk with loved ones. The good news is that it will cost them less money to do so.

Average gas and diesel prices are down three cents from yesterday alone. Since mid-June, when gas prices hit their peak at $5.02 per gallon, they have been decreasing steadily. It’s now down $1.41 cents per gallon from that mark. Who doesn’t love that? We’re now just about 20 cents away from where we were a year ago, before prices started really taking off.

With that, let’s take a look at who will be paying the most and the least as they hit the roads for turkey day.

Here are the highest average gas prices in the country in order of highest price for a gallon regular:

Hawaii – $5.20 Regular | $5.42 Mid | $5.66 Premium | $6.10 DieselCalifornia – $5.16 Regular | $5.39 Mid | $5.52 Premium | $6.14 DieselNevada – $4.77 Regular | $5.03 Mid | $5.24 Premium | $5.47 DieselWashington – $4.60 Regular | $4.87 Mid | $5.04 Premium | $5.69 (nice) DieselOregon – $4.56 Regular | $4.82 Mid | $5.03 Premium | $5.05 Diesel

Here are the lowest average prices of gasoline in the country in order of lowest price per gallon of regular:

Texas – $2.95 Regular | $3.34 Mid | $3.67 Premium | $4.54 DieselGeorgia – $3.08 Regular | $3.49 Mid | $3.86 Premium | $4.93 DieselMississippi – $3.10 Regular | $3.47 Mid | $3.82 Premium | $4.77 DieselArkansas – $3.10 Regular | $3.46 Mid | $3.81 Premium | $4.77 DieselLouisiana – $3.14 Regular | $5.26 Mid | $3.88 Premium | $4.72 Diesel

Quick reminder: if you drink and drive tonight and somehow I find out about it, I’m going to permaban you from the comments.