--- title: Gas Prices Could Fall Back Below $3 by Late October description: Gas prices could fall below $3 a gallon this fall if oil prices don't rally between now and then, experts forecast. 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: 597 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: '2022-09-13T15:32:58.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T17:39:55.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - Gas prices - News word_count: 625 canonical: https://money.com/gas-prices-fall-below-3-october/ 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/). ![Close-up of unrecognizable white male man purchasing gas at pump](https://img.money.com/2022/09/News-When-Gas-Prices-Will-Drop-Below-3-Dollars.jpg) Gas prices could soon fall back below $3 a gallon in your neck of the woods — if they haven't already. Prices for regular gasoline are now below $3 at one in 10 gas stations around the country, according to a [report](https://www.gasbuddy.com/go/gas-price-decline-hits-13-weeks-1-in-10-stations-below-2-99-gal) by GasBuddy, an app that tracks real-time fuel prices. And forecasts indicate the nationwide average could reach $2.99 or lower this fall. The national average is $3.68 on Tuesday. That's down 25 cents in the last month and down 7 cents from last week. Gas prices have taken drivers on quite a rollercoaster ride in 2022. They rose at the [fastest pace ever](https://money.com/gas-prices-rise-record-fast-pace/?ref=/prices-falling-meat-flights-computers/) earlier this year, with the U.S. average hitting a [record high](https://money.com/gas-prices-painful-facts/) of more than $5 in mid-June. Today’s price represents a 26.7% decline from that peak. Prices are still higher than they were a year ago, when the average gallon of gas was $3.16, and remain well above pre-pandemic levels. In Sept. 2019, average gas prices in the U.S. were just under $2.60 per gallon. ## When could gas prices fall below $3? GasBuddy’s projections forecast the national average falling to $3 in late October if oil prices don’t “materially rise” in the weeks ahead. “Oil has shown weakness as of late,” said Patrick De Haan, the company’s head of petroleum analysis. “The wholesale price of gasoline has dipped to the point where it has opened up the window that $2.99 is possible.” But to pump the breaks, it’s important to remember that forecasting oil and gas prices is always an inexact science. Moreover, officials including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen say we could be looking at higher oil prices on the horizon due to new sanctions on Russia. (Crude oil prices are [responsible for 54%](https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/) of what a gallon of gas costs.) It’s also still hurricane season, and while August was thankfully a calmer-than-normal month, it’s unclear what the rest of the season will bring. Severe storms can disrupt operations at refineries and offshore oil platforms, hampering supply. In light of these concerns, and others, De Haan has some doubts the national average will actually drop below $3. “It might not be possible — hurricanes, unexpected issues that arise, E.U. sanctions on Russian energy, economic concerns, COVID in China, if demand in the U.S. doesn't fall in autumn as it tends to do — there’s many different things that could change the outcome,” he said. On Monday, West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices were trading around $88, which compares to a recent high in early June just above $122. In Texas, the average price of gas is $3.10 per gallon, the [lowest in the nation](https://www.gasbuddy.com/usa), and a total of 10 states have average prices below $3.30. Gas is typically cheaper in Gulf States and other areas of the South thanks to low taxes and proximity to refineries. It’s a different story in other parts of the country, where the pain at the pump is still very real. The average price of gas in California is $5.32 per gallon, and it’s nearly as bad in Hawaii — $5.22. Eight states, all in the western part of the country, are still above $4 per gallon. The higher prices out west are partially due to [recent refinery issues](https://news.aaa-calif.com/news/auto-club-gas-prices-reverse-course-due-to-refinery-issues-possibility-of-refinery-power-outages) in California. The American Automobile Association (AAA), in a [Monday report](https://gasprices.aaa.com/gas-prices-keep-dropping-as-summer-driving-season-ends/), said gas prices will likely continue to decrease in the weeks ahead if demand for gasoline subsides as it usually does after Labor Day. “With fall approaching, more markets could soon see prices below $3 per gallon,” AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-fall-below-3-october/#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 Fall Back Below $3 by Late October" } ] }, { "@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-fall-below-3-october/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/gas-prices-fall-below-3-october/", "name": "Gas Prices Could Fall Back Below $3 by Late October", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-09-13T15:32:58.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-fall-below-3-october/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-fall-below-3-october/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T17:39:55.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Gas Prices Could Fall Back Below $3 by Late October", "articleSection": "Economy and Politics", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/09/News-When-Gas-Prices-Will-Drop-Below-3-Dollars.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-When-Gas-Prices-Will-Drop-Below-3-Dollars" } ], "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. 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