--- title: Gas Prices Could Finally Drop Back Below $3 Nationally by This Weekend description: Gas prices have dropped by nearly $2 since hitting a record in June, and it's possible prices will fall below $3 by Christmas. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 602 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2022-12-22T18:39:57.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T13:51:21.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - News word_count: 461 canonical: https://money.com/gas-prices-drop-below-3-christmas/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Photo of a Santa Claus](https://img.money.com/2022/12/News-Gas-prices-could-drop-nationally-by-Christmas.jpg?crop=0px%2C82px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) Gas prices have dropped by almost $2 a gallon since they hit an [all-time high](https://money.com/gas-prices-painful-facts/) in June, and forecasts show the national average could fall below $3 by Christmas. The average gallon of gas in the U.S. now costs $3.06, while average prices are below $3 in 29 states, according to the price comparison app [GasBuddy](https://www.gasbuddy.com/charts). At the high point last June, gas cost an average of about $5.02 nationally. In a [report](https://www.gasbuddy.com/go/gas-prices-drop-to-lowest-level-in-18-months-for-christmas-travelers) Tuesday, GasBuddy forecasted that the national average would be $2.98 on Christmas, dropping below $3 on Dec. 24. However, Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, said in a [tweet](https://twitter.com/GasBuddyGuy/status/1605649845586432002) Wednesday that due to rebounding oil prices, their forecast may not materialize. He says it’s now “going to be very close” if prices drop below $3. And even if the national average does drop below $3, it might be long before prices pop back up. “We’ve seen gas prices cut nearly in half in some areas compared to earlier this year,” De Haan says. “While we’re closing out the year on a positive note, challenges remain that could drive prices up again next spring, so motorists might want to keep their expectations in check and enjoy the sub-$3 gasoline while they can.” Crude oil prices are responsible for 55% of what a gallon of gas [costs drivers at the pump](https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/). On Thursday, oil prices were trading at around $78 a barrel, up more than 4% from the start of the week, according to the West Texas Intermediate measure. Oil prices moved higher this week amid a report of declining U.S. crude oil inventories and against the backdrop of positive reports about China’s reopening, which would increase global oil demand. Also, a major winter storm hitting the middle of the country will likely cause demand for heating oil to rise and could impact oil supply, experts say. “Oil could be on the verge of a major breakout as the realities of winter are upon us and we get more signs that China is reopening their economy from the COVID lockdown," Phil Flynn of the Price Futures Group said in a research note. Gas prices vary significantly around the U.S. right now. According to GasBuddy, the average gallon costs $2.44 on average at the cheapest 10% of stations and $4.22 at the most expensive 10%. In Hawaii, the average gallon costs $5.03. California, where the average price is $4.26, is the only other state with an average above $4. Average gas prices are cheapest in Texas ($2.57), Oklahoma ($2.60) and Arkansas ($2.65). ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-drop-below-3-christmas/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Economy and Politics", "item": "https://money.com/economy-and-politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gas Prices", "item": "https://money.com/gas-prices/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Gas Prices Could Finally Drop Back Below $3 Nationally by This Weekend" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-drop-below-3-christmas/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/gas-prices-drop-below-3-christmas/", "name": "Gas Prices Could Finally Drop Back Below $3 Nationally by This Weekend", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-12-22T18:39:57.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-drop-below-3-christmas/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-drop-below-3-christmas/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T13:51:21.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Gas Prices Could Finally Drop Back Below $3 Nationally by This Weekend", "articleSection": "Economy and Politics", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/12/News-Gas-prices-could-drop-nationally-by-Christmas.jpg?crop=0px%2C82px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-Gas-prices-could-drop-nationally-by-Christmas" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2023/02/peter.png?w=350&h=430&crop=1", "email": "peter.grieve@money.com", "jobTitle": "Lead News Reporter", "alumniOf": "University of Chicago, BA Political Science", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/pete_grieve", "https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138", "https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2022-12-22T18:39:57.000Z", "description": "Gas prices have dropped by nearly $2 since hitting a record in June, and it's possible prices will fall below $3 by Christmas.", "abstract": "Gas prices have dropped by nearly $2 since hitting a record in June, and it's possible prices will fall below $3 by Christmas.", "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-drop-below-3-christmas/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-01-10T13:51:21.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "wordCount": 461, "keywords": [ "News" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Political economy", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_economy" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Gas prices", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_prices" ] } ] } ] } ```