Gas prices hit a nine-month low on Wednesday, dropping to their lowest mark since the beginning of a rapid spike in prices in February, but experts still believe they will hit a Thanksgiving Day record.

The price of gas fell to a nine-month low.

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The national average for a gallon of gas dropped more than a week ago to its lowest point in more than a month.

Texas fell under the $3 mark for the first time since January when the national average dropped to $2.951.

The price of a gallon of gas in California has fallen the most from a month ago, as key oil refinery come back online after a string of maintenance related shutdowns.

According to the Energy Information Administration, gas demand fell from 9.1 million barrels per day to 8.74 million barrels per day.

Even though prices have fallen, they are still 20 cents higher than a year ago and $1 higher than this time last year. They are 16 cents higher than the previous record.

What To Watch For

Is gas prices going to go down this winter? The cost of crude oil and gas demand are the two main drivers of the price of gas. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy wrote that oil prices can be more volatile because the global market is not as stable as it could be. The Biden Administration was able to open 14 million barrels of oil for sale two weeks later because of the 2 million barrels per day cut by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The international energy market has been disrupted by the war in Ukraine and the threat of a cutoff of oil supplies to Europe. Half of the dollar figure drivers see at the pump is attributed to the cost of oil.

If oil markets hold, we could see a national average of $2.99 around Christmas, according to De Haan.

Tangent

The days get shorter and the weather gets worse as gas demand has been on a downward trend. According to the EIA, the drop in demand can be attributed to motorists driving more frequently in warmer weather. Thanksgiving is the exception to the price fall. Between Wednesday and Sunday, nearly 49 million Americans will travel, an increase from the previous year. The increase in passengers this week is pre-covid levels. More than 2.29 million passengers were screened at the checkpoint on Tuesday, above the previous year's levels and just short of the previous year's total.

Gas prices in the US are going to fall for 10 days in a row.

The experts think Thanksgiving will set a record.