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Gas prices hold steady: Analyst predicts sub-$3 a gallon by New Year’s

Chris Graham
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(© Daniel Thornberg – stock.adobe.com)

Gas prices held steady, by and large, over the last week, inching down 0.4 cents per gallon nationally, to $3.21 per gallon, and holding steady in Virginia, at $3.11 per gallon.

This is according to data from GasBuddy, based on data compiled from more than 11 million weekly price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.

The national average price of diesel has fallen 4.7 cents in the last week and stands at $4.18 per gallon.

Technically, the miniscule drop nationally keeps the streak of declining prices moving forward, now at 11 weeks and counting.

“Motorists can blame the OPEC+ meeting for causing oil to jump early last week and then plummet late last week for the volatility in gas prices,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

“The good news is that as the dust settled, OPEC+ agreed to barely move the needle, deepening their production cuts by an additional 900,000 barrels per day in 2024, with Saudi Arabia extending their own million barrel per day cut through March. However, that wasn’t enough to offset concerns of falling global demand, which pushed oil back down to below $73 in Sunday night trading, giving hope that the national average still could fall to $2.99/gal by the end of the year.”

The declines have prices in Virginia down 10 cents from a month ago and down 54 cents from the $3.65 per gallon peak back on Aug. 1.

The U.S. average on Aug. 1 was $3.82 per gallon.

California drivers, as of the start of the business day on Monday, are paying an average of $4.77 a gallon, by far the highest average price point nationwide.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].