Recent Uptick in Gas Prices Leaves Americans Unimpressed by Big-Picture Savings
CARS.COM — Gasoline prices are lower today than they have been at this time of the year since 2009, but a significant number of American motorists think they’re still too high. The vast majority of Americans don’t think that gas is “cheap” today, the AAA travel services organization found in a survey of motorists. Moreover, 35 percent of Americans believe that gas is “too high” based on current prices.
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The AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report on Thursday listed the national average for regular gas at $2.22 a gallon and premium at $2.69 a gallon. Gas prices are the highest they’ve been in more than six months, but they are still much cheaper for early May than in recent years.
A year ago the national average for a gallon of regular gas was $2.63 and for premium it was $3.02. Two years ago regular averaged $3.67 and premium was at $4.01. Diesel fuel averaged $2.22 on Thursday, 61 cents cheaper than a year ago and $1.73 less than two years ago.
Yet, as pump prices trend lower, consumer expectations seem to move even higher. AAA’s survey found that half of U.S. drivers now believe gas is “too high” at $2.50 per gallon.
“This figure has dropped significantly in relationship to the price of gas. As recently as 2014, half of Americans believed gas was ‘too high’ at $3.30 per gallon, while last year half of Americans believed it was ‘too high’ at $3 per gallon,” AAA said in a statement.
AAA said recent price increases have been caused by growing demand — as Americans drive more in warmer weather — and the climbing price of oil, which recently hit 2016 highs. U.S. crude oil, which dropped below $30 a barrel in February, was trading at nearly $46 on Thursday.
Oil is the largest cost factor in the price of gas, and AAA said every $1 change in oil prices can increase gas prices by as much as 2.4 cents a gallon. Oil prices were depressed for months as the global supply of crude easily outpaced demand. GasBuddy.com senior analyst Patrick DeHaan said that even with higher oil prices and more demand for gas, pump prices are unlikely to continue to rise much past Memorial Day.
“While gas prices are likely to continue tracking close to oil prices, oil inventories remain well-supplied for this time of year, acting as a ceiling to how high gasoline and oil prices rise this summer,” DeHaan said in a release. “Americans appear ripe to consume near record levels of gasoline, if not the highest levels ever this summer, with some of the lowest summer prices seen in 10 years or so.”
AAA noted that the average price for regular gas has increased 52 cents a gallon since mid-February and that only 20 percent of U.S. gas stations this week were still selling gas for less than $2. Regular averaged less than $2 in only three states, according to AAA: Kansas, $1.99; Oklahoma, $1.98; and Missouri, $1.97. The most expensive states for gas were Nevada, $2.49; Hawaii, $2.63; and California, $2.81.
