U.S. gasoline dropped below $4 per gallon for the first time since August, according to GasBuddy. Its analyst attributes the decline to seasonal factors rather than the midterm elections, and federal and AAA data show the same downward trend.
U.S. gasoline fell below $4 per gallon for the first time since August, and the midterm elections were not the cause, GasBuddy said in a blog post on Monday.
GasBuddy said the national average fell 15.9 cents over the last week to $3.96 per gallon. That is 39.3 cents lower than a month ago. It is still 92.2 cents higher than a year ago, the company said.
Seasonal factors, not the election, drive the drop
Patrick De Haan, Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy, said prices fell in every state over the last week. He called the idea that the election played a role a myth, noting that gas prices have fallen in the 30 days before the election every year since 2006 except 2010.
He said the pattern is typically seasonal: refiners finish maintenance and ramp up output just as demand fades with cooler weather. Those forces, along with more oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz, are why prices could stay below $4 in the weeks ahead, he added.
According to De Haan: "it’s the seasonal shift, not politics, driving the relief at the pump"
States span $3.23 to $5.69 per gallon
GasBuddy reported that North Carolina had the lowest average price at $3.23 per gallon, followed by Texas at $3.38 and Georgia at $3.44. California was highest at $5.69, ahead of Hawaii at $5.56 and Washington at $4.96.
Michigan saw the biggest weekly change, a 35.4 cent drop, followed by Colorado at 31.2 cents and Ohio at 29.4 cents.
EIA and AAA show the same trend
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said regular gasoline averaged $4.296 per gallon on October 26, $4.153 on November 2, and $3.995 on November 9. The West Coast had the highest price in the EIA update at $5.110, while the Gulf Coast had the lowest at $3.481.
AAA's fuel prices site put the average at $3.9429 per gallon on November 11, compared with $4.1239 a week earlier and $4.3585 a month earlier.
Source: Rigzone
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