Gasoline prices continue to trend lower despite holiday travel

U.S. retail regular-grade gasoline prices continue to decline, averaging $2.09 per gallon as of November 23, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), an arm of the U.S. Department of Energy. That’s 73 cents lower than this time last year and the lowest heading into a Thanksgiving holiday weekend since 2008.

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Traditionally, the Thanksgiving holiday is one of the heaviest travel times of the year in the United States, and much of that travel is by car. AAA estimates that during this Thanksgiving holiday period (November 25-29), 46.9 million people in the United States will travel more than 50 miles from home, with nearly 42 million people traveling by car. The estimated number of miles traveled is a slight increase compared with last year, while the estimated number of travelers is the highest for Thanksgiving since 2007.

EIA cautions that gasoline prices across the country reflect differences in taxes, fuel specifications and the characteristics of regional market supply and demand balances. In 2015, regional supply disruptions in California and in the Midwest resulted in higher wholesale and retail gasoline prices in the affected markets.

Based on data for the selected major metropolitan areas surveyed in EIA’s Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update, retail gasoline prices as of November 23 range from a low of $1.83 a gallon in Houston to $2.79 per gallon in Los Angeles.

Lower gasoline prices since 2014 are linked to lower crude oil prices.