Enjoy lower gasoline prices while you can.
At some point in the not-too-distant future, they will start to rise again and before peaking in the mid-to-late summer.
The national average price was $3.112 a gallon on Sunday (Dec. 31), down a half-cent from Saturday’s $3.117. It was off 19.8% from the 2023 peak of $3.881 on September 18 and off 2.6% from a year ago’s $3.195.
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The close for the year was up slightly from the low of $3.066 a gallon, reached on Dec. 18, American Automobile Association data show. It rose for four days to $3.129, along with crude oil prices, but resumed falling on Dec. 23.
The year-end close was off 5.3% from the 2021 close of $3.285 a gallon and the lowest year-end finish since 2000’s $2.53 a gallon.
In 28 states, predominantly southern and midwestern, the average price was below $3 a gallon. Mississippi had the lowest state-wide average: $2.666 a gallon, with the lowest price recorded in Simpson County, southeast of Jackson, at $2.528.
The highest statewide average was California at $4.702, one of just three states with average prices topping $4. The other two are Hawaii ($4,678) and Washington ($4.13).
Seven California counties, all rural, had prices above $5. The most expensive was Mono County, located between Yosemite National Park and Nevada, at $5.763. The lowest price was in Yuba County: $4.25.
Gas prices are obviously tied to oil prices. As of Dec. 29, crude oil represented about 55% of AAA’s national average.
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West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark U.S. crude, was up 16.7% at its peak price of $93.68 per 42-gallon barrel on Sept. 27. The price has fallen 23.5% since and was down 10.7% for 2023.
The seasonal patterns for gasoline are due to refiners’ substituting more expensive ingredients in the summer to minimize fires and the like. But economic conditions and global market play big roles.
Energy companies reaped big profits because of the big 2022 oil-price runup. But falling prices in 2023 hit their stocks. Chevron (CVX) – Get Free Report finished the year down 16.9%. The Energy Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund (XLE) – Get Free Report, which includes the most important energy companies, fell 4.2% for the year and 7% in the fourth quarter.
The price of filling up your car is down 20% since September.
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