Energy

Average US Gasoline Price Within Easy Reach of $2 a Gallon

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The U.S. average price for a gallon of regular gasoline on Monday was $2.028, just a fraction of a cent higher than the lowest average price for the year to date. That was $2.026 a gallon, set on January 26, according to GasBuddy. On the same date in 2008, a gallon of regular gasoline cost just $1.697 on its way to a low of $1.592 in the immediate aftermath of the housing market collapse and the financial crisis.

The five states posting the lowest gasoline prices Monday morning were Oklahoma ($1.796), South Carolina ($1.800), Missouri ($1.806), Michigan ($1.826) and Mississippi ($1.828). In all, 23 states now average less than $2 a gallon for regular gasoline, and no state reports an average price higher than $2.80 a gallon.

The five states reporting the highest gasoline prices are Hawaii ($2.802), California ($2.691), Nevada ($2.508), Washington ($2.439) and Alaska ($2.343). The city reporting the highest price for a gallon of gasoline was Los Angeles ($2.789). Of the 10 cities with the highest prices for gasoline all are in California, and 16 of the top 20 are in the Golden State.

Friday’s announcement by OPEC of a de facto increase of production has weighed down crude prices by 5% Monday, touching levels below $38 a barrel. GasBuddy’s senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan said:

OPEC is going to wait for production to resume from Iran before looking at oil production quotas again next year. While we wait and see what that next meeting might bring, high oil production will likely continue to boost already record high oil inventories, keeping gasoline prices somewhat subdued. The national average has once again resumed falling after Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet caused a brief hiatus, but with prices moving lower, a $1.99 national average gasoline price could be something we witness this week.

The most common price in the United States on Monday was $1.899 and the median price was $1.959. The lowest-priced 5% of U.S. gas stations are selling regular gasoline for $1.680 a gallon, and the highest-priced 5% are selling a gallon for $2.844. That price range is a penny narrower than a week ago and more than 20 cents narrower than just six months ago.

West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery traded down about 5.1% in the early afternoon Monday at $38.03, and Brent for January delivery traded down about 4.4% at $41.10.

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