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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Gas hasn’t been this cheap on Labor Day since 2020 | |
By Matt Egan, CNN | |
Updated: | |
5:00 AM EDT, Fri August 29, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
Americans soaking up the end of summer this holiday weekend will catch | |
a break at the gas pump. | |
Labor Day gas prices are expected to average $3.15 per gallon this | |
year— the cheapest since 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, according | |
to GasBuddy. That’s down modestly from $3.29 last Labor Day. | |
Drivers in some parts of the country will find sub-$3 gas. As of | |
Thursday, the average price is below $3 per gallon in 15 states, | |
including Georgia, Texas, North Carolina and Iowa, the automotive and | |
trip-planning group. | |
offer a bright spot to consumers still struggling with a higher cost of | |
living at the grocery store, in their utility bills and elsewhere. | |
Although gas prices have edged higher in recent days, they remain well | |
below last summer — and it’s largely due to the fact that oil | |
prices remain low. | |
“Americans are spending less and less of their paychecks filling up | |
their tanks,” Patrick De Haan, vice president of petroleum analysis | |
at GasBuddy, told CNN in a phone interview. | |
Gas prices crashed in 2020 as the health crisis caused many Americans | |
to stay off the roads. The national average that Labor Day plunged to | |
just $2.22 a gallon. | |
Then gas prices reached a Labor Day record high of $3.79 in 2022, the | |
same year gas surged to $5 a gallon for the first time after Russia’s | |
invasion of Ukraine spiked oil prices. | |
“Lowering the cost of energy is very important. It translates to an | |
immediate increase in household cashflow and helps middle and | |
lower-income Americans who are often living paycheck to paycheck,” | |
Joe LaVorgna, counselor to the US treasury secretary, told CNN in a | |
phone interview. | |
US oil fell below $64 a barrel on Thursday, down from $77.38 a barrel | |
on President Joe Biden’s final full day in office. | |
The White House took a victory lap for the lower fuel costs, crediting | |
Trump with “fully unleashing American energy dominance” in a | |
statement on Thursday. LaVorgna said oil prices are “largely a result | |
of the president’s policies” and his efforts to get US “allies | |
and partners overseas” to pump more oil. | |
Although it’s true that US oil production remains near all-time | |
highs, output is little changed since Trump took office, promising to | |
slash red tape and end President Joe Biden’s alleged war on energy. | |
In fact, US oil output stood at 13.4 million barrels per day during the | |
week ending on August 22, down slightly from 13.5 million during | |
President Joe Biden’s last full week in office, according to . | |
Still, LaVorgna argued the oil industry is feeling better about | |
investing in future production because of Trump’s deregulatory | |
stance. | |
“Oil companies are more confident in the outlook – and that they | |
won’t be regulated out of existence,” he said. | |
Analysts, on the other hand, have linked low gas prices to the | |
willingness of Saudi Arabia-led OPEC to ramp up production. | |
After years of holding back supply, OPEC has — something during a | |
major speech at Davos in January, just days after taking office. OPEC | |
has been its output to regain market share. | |
“In terms of keeping prices contained, OPEC’s aggressive return of | |
barrels has arguably been the most unexpected factor,” said Rebecca | |
Babin, senior energy trader at wealth management company CIBC Private | |
Wealth. | |
Babin said she’s “confident” US oil prices will remain below $70 | |
over the next few months, though she said the “wildcard” would be a | |
sanctions crackdown on Russia or Iran that could lift crude prices. | |
GasBuddy’s De Haan is also hopeful that tame gas prices are here to | |
stay. The national average of $3.21 per gallon is up 7 cents from a | |
week ago, according to AAA — but De Haan blamed that on severe | |
weather in the Midwest that knocked offline a critical Indiana | |
refinery. | |
“The timing is up in the air and depends on hurricane season, but the | |
stars look aligned for sub-$3 gas this fall,” De Haan said. “It’s | |
a question of when, not if.” | |
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