The national average price for regular gas slightly decreased on Friday to $3.156 per gallon.
This is a decrease from Thursday’s national average price of one cent per gallon, according to AAA. There has also been a drop in cost compared to gas prices earlier this week, when gas was $3.163 per gallon. For the most part, gas prices have remained between $3.13 per gallon and $3.20 per gallon since June.
July concluded with an average of $3.15 per gallon, the least expensive July average for a gallon of regular gas since 2021. It’s reflective of the steady market for gas prices this summer, as the country enters the last month before Labor Day and the end of what is traditionally known as the summer driving season.
During the previous four years, gas prices were among the highest ever recorded in the country’s history, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Last July, the average cost for a gallon of regular gas was $3.60. In 2023, gas prices were more expensive at $3.712 per gallon. In July 2022, the average price for a gallon of regular gas was at its second-highest level in the country’s history, costing $4.668. In July 2021, the average cost for gas was $3.23.
Regarding last week’s gas prices, AAA cited information from the EIA that showed that demand for gas slightly dropped last week, going from 9.15 million barrels per day to 9.04 million barrels per day. Additionally, gas production decreased a week ago to 9.8 million barrels per day, according to AAA, while domestic gas supply fell “from 228.4 million barrels to 227.1.”
In the United States, different regions have different gas prices, sometimes substantially. The area with the highest average statewide gas prices is the West Coast. Comparatively, the states with the lowest average statewide gas prices are along the Gulf Coast.
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California has the most expensive gas prices in the nation, with a state average cost of $4.496 per gallon. This is followed by Hawaii, where the average price for a gallon of regular gas is $4.465. Next is Washington, where the statewide average cost for fuel is $4.404. Oregon is next at $3.994 per gallon, followed by Alaska at $3.776.
Conversely, Mississippi is the state with the cheapest gas in the nation, with an average price of $2.71 per gallon. Texas is next at $2.739 per gallon, followed by Oklahoma at $2.75. Louisiana has the next cheapest fuel costs at $2.782 per gallon. Tennessee is next, with a statewide average price of $2.796.