The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell by 3 cents over the past week to $4.06, driven in part by lower crude oil prices and seasonal declines in travel demand, according to AAA.
AAA said crude oil prices have fallen into the $70-per-barrel range amid optimism that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will return to normal operations. Gasoline prices also typically begin to decline in August as schools and universities resume classes and fewer motorists take summer road trips.
The national average for regular gasoline stood at $4.063 on Thursday, down from $4.098 a week earlier. However, prices remain higher than one month ago, when the national average was $3.796, and well above the $3.170 average recorded one year ago.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, gasoline demand dipped slightly last week from 9.04 million barrels per day to 9.03 million barrels per day. Domestic gasoline supplies also declined from 211.3 million barrels to 209.7 million barrels, while gasoline production averaged 9.6 million barrels per day.
At Wednesday’s close of trading, West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 55 cents to settle at $75.22 per barrel. The Energy Information Administration reported U.S. crude oil inventories increased by 2.5 million barrels to 407 million barrels, about 6% below the five-year average for this time of year.
AAA said half of U.S. states now have average gasoline prices below $4 per gallon.
California continued to have the nation’s highest average gasoline price at $5.62 per gallon, followed by Hawaii ($5.45) and Washington ($5.14). Indiana posted the nation’s lowest average at $3.54 per gallon, followed by South Carolina and Tennessee at $3.61.
The national average cost to charge an electric vehicle at a public charging station remained unchanged at 42 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Among the most expensive states for public EV charging, New Jersey ranked seventh at 45 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to AAA.
Drivers can find current gasoline and public EV charging prices using AAA’s TripTik Travel Planner.
