Millions of drivers in the United States are slated to hit the road this Memorial Day weekend, but the expected spike in demand isn’t expected to send gasoline prices anywhere near last year’s record highs.
Roughly 37 million people are expected to drive this holiday weekend, with road trips up 6% from the same point last year, according to AAA.
BIDEN’S STRONG PICK FOR CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS
Current national gas averages stand at just $3.57 per gallon — or roughly $1.02 less than the same point in 2022.
And gas prices aren’t expected to see a spike nearly as painful as last year’s, when prices soared to their highest-ever national average of $5.02 per gallon, according to AAA.
The Energy Information Administration projected in its most recent short-term energy outlook that U.S. gasoline prices will average around $3.40 per gallon this summer.
That’s primarily due to lower crude oil prices, which account for more than half of U.S. retail gasoline prices. Average spot prices for international benchmark Brent crude are averaging $41 per barrel lower compared to May 2022, according to the EIA.
And oil markets are much more comfortably supplied compared to last year, when fears about Russian production loomed large and sent future projections skyrocketing.
“I think we’re coming off a high of gasoline consumption last year because of the recovery from the pandemic — but also the fact that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has not led to a big drop in oil production” as some had predicted, Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analytics at GasBuddy, said in an interview.
De Haan said he’s “cautiously optimistic” about prices this summer, though he noted that things could change with a sudden increase in demand, especially if supplies were to be affected abruptly due to a natural disaster or a hurricane.
“Looking back, compared to the five- and 10-year averages, we are still seeing gas prices that are above average,” he said. “It’s just compared to last year’s sky-high stratospheric prices that [drivers] are feeling some relief.”
In a blog post published earlier this week, AAA spokesman Andy Gross also cited low crude prices as the primary driver pushing gas prices down. Oil “[is] wobbling around the low $70s per barrel,” thus helping to mitigate the rise in demand for gasoline, he said. “Pump prices could stabilize or fall once this long weekend is in the rearview mirror.”
Any rise in gas prices could hurt President Joe Biden’s approval ratings on the eve of a presidential election year.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Last summer’s spike in gas prices caused Biden’s approval ratings to bottom out, falling to an all-time low of just 36% in July — but as prices began to ease, so too did the disapproval ratings.
By December 2022, gas prices had dropped to just over $3.10 per gallon, and Biden’s approval rating rose to its highest point of the year at more than 43%.
