National Gas Prices See Lowest Average Cost Per Gallon in 18 Months

A gas station in Brooklyn, NY on October 19, 2022.Photo: Michael M. Santiago (Getty Images)

It’s your old pal, Gas Price Watch. I’m here to bring you some awfully jolly news right in time for the holidays. According to AAA, the price of a gallon is now $3.12. Forbes reports that price is the lowest it has been in a year and a half, and looks to continue that downward trend into Christmas, where prices could dip below $3 per gallon.

This is a big drop from where they were in the middle of June of this year – when the average price of a gallon of gas was $5.02. Forbes reports that the head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, Patrick De Haan, projects prices to hit $2.99 by Christmas. (It’s important to note that GasBuddy has the average price of a gallon of gas a bit lower than AAA at $3.09).

That $2.99 may be hard to hit due to an extreme cold front that could impact refineries in warm-weather states like Texas. It’ll come down to whether the drop in oil prices and seasonal demand can outweigh the refinery issue.

We’ve reported in the past that prices have been on the decline for months now because several oil refineries around the country have come back online just in time for demand to taper off for the year. Forbes reports that last week the Department of Energy announced that it would be purchasing 3 million barrels of oil to replenish the federal Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It was tapped into by the Biden Administration in October of this year to ease prices at the pump.

So with that, let’s take a look at the highest and lowest prices around the country.

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

Hawaii – $5.11 Regular | $5.32 Mid | $5.57 Premium | $6.06 DieselCalifornia – $4.36 Regular | $4.57 Mid | $5.73 Premium | $5.62 DieselNevada – $4.03 Regular | $4.28 Mid | $4.49 Premium | $5.02 DieselWashington – $3.92 Regular | $4.18 Mid | $4.38 Premium | $5.09 DieselOregon – $3.82 Regular | $4.05 Mid | $4.24 Premium | $4.95 Diesel

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

Texas – $2.61 Regular | $2.99 Mid | $3.32 Premium | $4.04 DieselOklahoma – $2.65 Regular | $2.97 Mid | $3.21 Premium | $3.84 DieselArkansas – $2.69 (nice) Regular | $3.04 Mid | $3.38 Premium | $4.23 DieselMissouri – $2.70 Regular | $2.99 Mid | $3.33 Premium | $4.23 DieselMississippi – $2.74 Regular | $3.14 Mid | $3.47 Premium | $4.47 Diesel