Gas is relatively cheap these days. Enjoy those low prices, but don’t get used to them, analysts say.
An oversupply of oil on the world market has triggered a steady slide in gas prices, bringing Americans some of the cheapest gas in years as 2019 kicked off.
Nationally, regular was averaging around $2.25 per gallon at the start of January — the lowest price for this time of year since 2016, according to AAA.
It’s welcome news for drivers. Just last summer, gas prices were at four-year highs.
But recently, at a Costco gas station in Washington, D.C., Sylvie Tiadem was delighted that it cost her only $26 to fill up. “Oh, my goodness!” she said.
That’s down from the nearly $40 it cost her when gas prices were higher. “Expenses are growing everywhere, but when one goes down, I’m happy,” Tiadem said.
Gas prices vary across the country. They’re cheaper in the South and pricier in the West, according to AAA’s data. But in general, drivers like Tiadem have been happy for months now.
“We started to see prices decrease in October, and they came down slowly but consistently since then,” says Jeanette Casselano, a spokeswoman for AAA. “It still has a lot to do with where you are, but regardless, gas prices are cheaper than we’ve seen them in 2018.”
Multiple factors affect the price of gasoline — primarily taxes, distribution, refining and the price of crude oil, the raw material used to make gas. In this case, the reason for the price drop is clear: It’s driven by a drop in the price of oil, says Kelsey Hallahan, a petroleum markets analyst with the Energy Information Administration.