Gas prices are holding steady nationally, rising 0.4 cents per gallon over the past week, though Virginia consumers are paying 2.5 cents per gallon less than they did a week ago.
This according to data from GasBuddy, which has the average in Virginia on Monday at $3.31 a gallon, and the average across the U.S. at $3.51 a gallon.
“With oil prices bouncing back over $70 per barrel after reaching as low as $66 in early May, we’ve seen gasoline prices move higher in some states, while others have continued to decline. The national average has seen little change as a result, but overall, gasoline prices continue to see significant relief from year ago levels,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
A year ago this time, the average for a gallon of gas nationally was $4.47 a gallon, and we seemed headed toward a $5 per gallon national average.
De Haan sees prices heading downward as the rest of the year plays out.
“We’re likely to soon see gasoline prices slip to their largest year-on-year deficit since COVID hit, when prices fell over $1 per gallon from 2019- so the relief at the pump as been significant, and even though the gas price decline hit pause last week, it’s looking more likely that barring a major hurricane or series of refinery outages, the national average may not end up hitting the $4 per gallon mark, something that will make most motorists very happy,” De Haan said.
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Chris Graham
