.-') _ .-') _ | |
( OO ) ) ( OO ) ) | |
.-----. ,--./ ,--,' ,--./ ,--,' | |
' .--./ | \ | |\ | \ | |\ | |
| |('-. | \| | )| \| | ) | |
/_) |OO )| . |/ | . |/ | |
|| |`-'| | |\ | | |\ | | |
(_' '--'\ | | \ | | | \ | | |
`-----' `--' `--' `--' `--' | |
lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Fourth of July gas hasn’t been this cheap since 2021 | |
By Matt Egan, CNN | |
Updated: | |
5:00 AM EDT, Tue July 1, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
Drivers hitting the road this Fourth of July weekend won’t need to | |
break the bank to fill up at the gas pump. | |
Gas prices are expected to average between $3.10 and $3.15 per gallon | |
nationally this Fourth of July, according to GasBuddy, which tracks | |
fuel prices. | |
That’s down sharply from $3.49 per gallon last year and would | |
represent the cheapest gas for the summer holiday since at least 2021. | |
If the national average drops below $3.12 per gallon, it would be the | |
lowest Fourth of July price for gas since 2020 during the height of the | |
Covid-19 pandemic, according to GasBuddy. | |
Muted gas prices represent one of the biggest bright spots in the US | |
economy, which has suffered from and vast uncertainty caused by the . | |
Last month’s Israel-Iran conflict interrupted the trend of cheaper | |
gas prices – but only briefly. | |
after Israel and then the United States launched attacks on Iran, | |
fanning fears of a regional war that could derail the region’s vital | |
energy supplies. Gasoline prices started climbing sharply, threatening | |
to make Fourth of July a much more expensive time to travel by car. | |
But as Israel and Iran reached a ceasefire, reducing the risk of a | |
disastrous disruption in the flow of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz. | |
US crude oil settled at $65.11 a barrel on Monday – down sharply from | |
an intraday peak of $79 on June 22. | |
“The pendulum swung very rapidly,” said Patrick De Haan, | |
GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis. | |
That’s very good news for the many Americans set to travel this | |
holiday weekend. | |
According to AAA, a are expected to travel by car this Fourth of July | |
weekend. That’s up by 2.2%, or 1.3 million people, compared with | |
last year. | |
Based on the current forecast, Americans are expected to spend about | |
$500 million less on fuel than last Fourth of July, according to | |
GasBuddy. | |
Gas looks even cheaper from an inflation-adjusted basis. | |
Americans are making significantly more money, on average, than they | |
did in 2021 or 2020. That means filling up at the pump is swallowing up | |
a smaller and smaller chunk of paychecks. | |
Consider that averaged $3.68 per gallon in June 2021 and $5.43 in June | |
2022, according to the US Energy Information Administration. That’s | |
well above today’s prices of around $3.15 to $3.20 a gallon. | |
Drivers in some US states are enjoying significantly cheaper gas prices | |
compared with last year, including Ohio (56 cents cheaper), Florida (43 | |
cents), Kentucky (42 cents) and Michigan (42 cents), . | |
As always, there’s a risk that gas prices could start climbing again | |
if something else goes wrong in the Middle East, US refineries suffer | |
outages or hurricanes season interrupts energy supplies. | |
But short of that, analysts say the outlook remains favorable to | |
drivers this summer when it comes to gas prices. | |
Not only have Israel-Iran fears eased, but OPEC continues to | |
aggressively add more supply, and US oil production remains near record | |
highs. | |
That’s why GasBuddy says it’s possible gas prices will slip below | |
$3 per gallon nationally by Labor Day weekend. | |
“There’s limited ability for gas prices to rise above last | |
summer’s levels. All in all, it’s not a bad time to hit the | |
road,” De Haan said. | |
<- back to index |