Gasoline prices—now well below an average of $3 per gallon nationally—and crude oil costs have plunged to their lowest levels since the pandemic in early 2021, coming just in time for the holiday travel season that’s projected to set new records in the U.S.
A combination of surging oil production volumes from OPEC and the U.S. is putting downward pressure on fuel prices just as seasonally lower gasoline costs are setting in. (Fuel is cheaper to refine in the winter.) At the same time, a record 122.4 million Americans are projected to travel at least 50 miles beginning Dec. 20, including 109.5 million electing to drive, according to AAA.
