Gas prices had been trending upward ahead of Memorial Day. Now they’re heading back down, with GasBuddy reporting Monday a nearly four-cent drop per gallon nationally over the past week.
The data tracking site has the average of a gallon of unleaded at $3.51 a gallon, down 3.9 cents per gallon from a week ago.
Virginia consumers are paying $3.31 a gallon today, down 2.8 cents per gallon.
Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, warns that “the drop may be temporary.”
“OPEC+ agreed Sunday to additional production cuts, while Saudi Arabia is going above and beyond and cutting July production. As a result, oil prices are likely to see upward pressure as global supplies, which have remained tight, promise to become even tighter as a result,” De Haan said. “Last time OPEC+ agreed to cut production, it led to a temporarily rally in the price of oil, but as global oil demand hasn’t been as strong as expected, the cut failed to hold oil prices up. OPEC+ and Saudi Arabia are likely hoping that the rise in oil prices will stick longer this time, as the Saudi economy relies on oil prices north of $81 per barrel.”
The production cut could lead to an uptick in oil prices, pushing gas prices higher as soon as Wednesday, according to De Haan.
“How long any rise in gas prices lasts is up in the air, but I do not yet believe motorists need to be worried. Any rise in average prices should be fairly small, and we’re still extremely unlikely to make a run at record prices anytime soon,” De Haan said.
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Chris Graham
