The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell 12 cents over the past week, but AAA says drivers could still face elevated fuel costs as the busy summer travel season begins.
According to AAA, the national average for regular gasoline stood at $4.42 per gallon on Thursday, down from $4.56 a week ago. Despite the recent decline, prices remain significantly higher than recent years and are at their highest level for this time of year in four years.
AAA said falling crude oil prices helped drive the decrease at the pump. Oil prices declined amid reports of ongoing peace talks involving Iran, though uncertainty surrounding those negotiations could quickly reverse the trend.
“Crude oil prices have been going down this week amid reports of peace talks with Iran,” AAA said in its latest fuel market update. “But the fragile situation could cause oil prices to spike again if a ceasefire deal isn’t reached.”
The current national average is up from $4.18 one month ago and significantly higher than the $3.16 average recorded at the same time last year.
New data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed gasoline demand increased from 8.76 million barrels per day to 9.25 million barrels per day last week. Meanwhile, domestic gasoline supplies fell from 214.2 million barrels to 211.6 million barrels.
Gasoline production increased slightly, averaging 9.9 million barrels per day.
On the oil market, West Texas Intermediate crude closed Wednesday’s trading session at $88.68 per barrel, down $5.21 for the day. The EIA reported U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 3.3 million barrels and remain about 2% below the five-year average for this time of year.
California continued to have the nation’s highest average gas price at $6.07 per gallon, followed by Washington at $5.74 and Hawaii at $5.65.
Among the least expensive states, Indiana posted the lowest average gas price at $3.81 per gallon, followed by Texas at $3.92 and Georgia and Mississippi at $3.93.
AAA also reported that the national average cost to charge an electric vehicle at a public charging station remained unchanged at 41 cents per kilowatt-hour.
New Jersey ranked among the nation’s most expensive states for public EV charging, averaging 44 cents per kilowatt-hour.
AAA said motorists can monitor current gas and EV charging prices along their travel routes through its TripTik Travel Planner.
