Gasoline prices in the States this Independence Day are set to hit their lowest point for the holiday since 2005, according to GasBuddy, Boston. It expects the national average for July 4 to be $2.21 per gallon, vs. the 10-year average of $3.14 per gallon.
That said, GasBuddy expects gasoline price variance—or the spread between the lowest and the highest price in a given market—to reach “historic highs” for July 4.
For example, an SUV driver could pay an average of $11 more per fill-up if they bought gas on the high end of the price spread in their market, and a small-car driver could pay $6 more per fill-up.
The national spread between the highest- and lowest-priced gas station on June 27 was at $1.29 per gallon, which is higher than the 10-year average of 98 cents per gallon (CPG).
For the highest- and lowest-priced gas stations in the same state, the average spread was 51 CPG.
Also noteworthy: For the first time since GasBuddy began tracking prices 17 years ago, the projected national average for July 4 is set to be lower than that for New Year’s Day.
On any given year, the national average has been 47 CPG higher on Jan. 1 than July 4.As summer begins, Americans are in much more of a driving mood than in recent years, according to NACS’ most recent Consumer Fuels survey.
In the June 2017 survey, the percentage of consumers who planned to drive more in the coming month jumped 11 points compared to the June 2016 survey, hitting 29%.
This is a record June high for the survey, which NACS has conducted since 2013.
Nearly 60% of consumers said they felt optimistic about the U.S. economy. NACS believes that low gasoline prices are behind the optimistic outlook and interest in driving.
In fact, 80% of consumers said that gas prices affect their feelings about the economy. That said, consumers have noticed a trend toward higher gas prices over the past month. They reported a median price of $2.35 per gallon.
Consumers in the West were most likely to report higher prices over the previous month, while those in the South were least likely. That might help explain why Southern consumers were most optimistic about the economy compared to other regions (62%).
Penn Schoen Berland conducted the online survey of 1,100 U.S. adults who purchase fuel for a vehicle at least once a month on behalf of NACS from June 6-9, 2017.
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