A week ago the forecast for the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the United States was $1.99, the lowest price for gas at any time in more than six years. On Monday, GasBuddy said the national average dipped to $2.033, the lowest Thanksgiving Day price since 2008 and the lowest price since last February.
The five states posting the lowest gasoline prices Monday morning were Michigan ($1.793), Missouri ($1.805), Oklahoma ($1.810), Ohio ($1.812) and South Carolina ($1.819). In all, 22 states now average less than $2 a gallon for regular gasoline, and no state reports an average price above $3 a gallon.
The five states reporting the highest gasoline prices are Hawaii ($2.827), California ($2.696), Nevada ($2.526), Washington ($2.455) and Oregon ($2.333). The city reporting the highest price for a gallon of gasoline was San Francisco ($2.788). Of the 10 cities with the highest prices for gasoline, nine are in California and the tenth is Honolulu.
According to GasBuddy, nearly two-thirds of the nation’s 130,000 gas stations are now selling gasoline for under $2 a gallon, a sea change from last year’s 0% of stations selling gasoline for less than $2.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meets this week and the cartel’s current production policy will be an object of special concern. Saudi Arabia, the country that has argued for maintaining production in order to maintain market share, is unlikely to change its tune now that production finally has started to fall in other producing nations, particularly the United States.
Oil prices rose early Monday, but Brent prices have fallen about 0.4% lower and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) had given back most of a 2.2% gain it enjoyed earlier in the day. In fact the spread between WTI and Brent narrowed to less than $3 a barrel in the morning.
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