The driving season ends on Labor Day. Gas prices in the U.S. are not as high as some had feared.
As Americans drive less and conserve fuel, gasoline prices are expected to continue their two-month decline.
Since the national average peaked at just under $5 per gallon on June 14, prices have fallen. The national average price for a gallon of gas was $3.79 on Monday.
Patrick DeHaan said the good news is going to keep going for now. He said that gasoline prices should fall into the fall.
There is a lot of refining capacity on the Gulf Coast.
We can get to $3.49 between Halloween and Thanksgiving according to DeHaan. There is a chance that the national average will reach as low as $3.29 if there is no major storm or refinery issues.
The decline could turn higher in some areas, like California and the Midwest, according to him. The spot market in those areas was increasing in price.
The refinery in Indiana was down for a week. The refinery was back to normal Friday, according to the company. The refinery is capable of processing 425,000 barrels a day.
If not earlier, he thinks we could see some states drop under $3 by the end of the year.
The cheapest places to buy gasoline are in the South. The average price for a gallon of gas was $3.30 in Arkansas and $3.32 in Mississippi. California has an average price of $5.24 per gallon, while Nevada has an average price of $4.73 per gallon.
Consumers have been incredibly fortunate. John Kilduff is a partner with Again Capital.
He said that it was putting a lot of money in people's pockets. People get some relief and the economy gets some relief. It is a big tax cut for consumers.
Tom Kloza, head of global energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service, thinks prices could go down but not all that much, and they could even go up again by the end of the year.
He said that prices on balance will be acceptable for the remainder of the year. The national decline is close to an end and could average between $3.50 and $3.75 per gallon.
There are too many things that can cause a wobble. The trend of falling prices has been going on for 80 days. There were higher prices in the wholesale market.
The US has become a bigger oil and refined product exporter, which supports prices.
The US exported 10 million barrels of oil and refined products last week. In the same period last year, gasoline exports totaled 466,000 barrels a day. 1.5 million barrels of diesel fuel were exported.
The price of oil is a factor that could cause a spike in gasoline prices. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were trading at about $86 per barrel Thursday, but oil prices went up to $130 per barrel in March.
The market has been fairly quiet. The Russians have not lost any oil. It is being diverted to India and China. The Iraqi turmoil did not affect the oil production.
Next week, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will meet. Kilduff doesn't believe that Saudi Arabia will reduce production soon. European countries are going to cut their use of Russian crude by the end of the year.
On the one hand, oil prices have fallen due to concerns about China's economy, and on the other, demand could be affected by the Covid lockdown.
According to analysts, high prices at the pump have been a cure. According to EIA data, gasoline demand has dropped off in the U.S.
For the week ending August 26th, U.S. gasoline demand was over 8 million barrels a day. The four week average was less than the same period last year.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they changed their driving habits because of high gas prices, and 86 percent said they are driving less.
There has been a decline in demand for the entire of July and August.
He said that a big storm could affect the industry, but so far no big storm has hit the Gulf.
Any storms that hit the East Coast are likely to result in less energy demand than if they hit the Gulf Coast.
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