AAA: Gas prices ticking back up ahead of July 4th

As nearly 40 million Americans get ready to gas up and go for an Independence Day holiday, the recent decline in gas prices may be over.

The national gas price average set a 2018 high of $2.97 per gallon on Memorial Day (May 28), however it has dropped continuously for the past month.  The end could be in sight for declining prices as crude oil prices reach multi-year highs.

Today’s national gas price average is $2.85, which is unchanged in the last week, down 11 cents in the last month, down 12 cents since Memorial Day and 61 cents higher than this time last year.

At the close of NYMEX trading Friday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil settled at $74.15 per barrel, up $5.57 from last Friday. For the first summer driving season in five years, the U.S. has seen the largest one-week reduction (9.9 million barrels) in crude inventories. Tighter oil supplies combined with the economic situation in Venezuela and pending Iran sanctions have sustained volatility in the crude market. Friday’s closing marked the highest price in three and a half years. With the global glut in crude disappearing fast, there is little capacity to deal with disruptions including geopolitical issues or major hurricanes.

“Prices at the pump have been on the decline since Memorial Day, yet that trend could change just as the Independence Day holiday approaches,” said Tammy Arnette, senior public affairs specialist for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “Motorists will pay the highest gas prices since 2014 for the second holiday of summer.  However, that will likely not deter the record number of travelers (nearly 40 million going by car) AAA expects this upcoming week.”

A record-breaking 46.9 million Americans and nearly 1.3 million Virginians are projected to travel 50 miles or more away from home this Independence Day holiday. The record number of travelers is an increase of more than 5 percent both nationally and in Virginia compared with last year and the highest number since AAA started tracking 18 years ago. For the 1.1 million Virginians that will be taking a road trip, AAA and traffic safety partners from Virginia State Police, Chesterfield Fire and EMS and VDOT urge everyone to put safety first.

AAA has a variety of resources to help motorists save on fuel:

• Fuel Price Finder (www.AAA.com/fuelfinder) locates the lowest fuel price in your area.
• AAA Gas Cost Calculator (gasprices.aaa.com/aaa-gas-cost-calculator/) helps budget travel expenses.
• TripTik Mobile (www.aaa.com/mobile) plots fuel prices along your travel route.
• AAA’s Member Rewards Visa® Credit Card (www.AAA.com/financial/AAAvisa.htm) accumulates double points on fuel purchases.