Gas dips under $4 a gallon for first time since March

Weaker demand, state actions contribute to nationwide drop in average price

NEW YORK — Gas prices in the country fell below $4 a gallon Thursday, retreating to their lowest level since March, a sign of relief for Americans struggling with historically high inflation and a political boost for President Joe Biden, who has been under pressure to do more to bring down prices.

The national average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline is $3.99, according to AAA. That’s still higher than it was a year ago but well below a peak of nearly $5.02 in mid-June. The average price has fallen for 58 consecutive days.

Energy costs feed into broad measures of inflation, so the drop is also good news for policymakers who have struggled to contain rising prices.

It is a welcome development for Biden, who has spent recent weeks trumpeting the drop in gas prices, even as he pledges to do more to bring costs down. Biden has criticized oil companies for their record profits, and this year he released some of the nation’s stockpile of oil in an effort to reduce price pressures.

“I’m going to keep doing what I can to bring down the price of gas at the pump,” he said in July.

For consumers, falling gas prices offer a respite from a shaky economy, rapid inflation and other worries.

The national average price for gasoline masks wide regional variations. Prices vary according to the health of local economies, proximity to refineries and state taxes, said Devin Gladden, a spokesman with AAA.

In California, for example, regulations to limit pollution make driving more expensive, with the average price of gas now $5.38 a gallon, with some counties recording averages above $6.

In Georgia, which has lower gas taxes and is close to refineries, the statewide average price for a gallon of gas is about $3.55.

But broadly speaking, the general drop in gas prices reflects a number of factors: weaker demand, because high costs have kept some drivers off the roads; a sharp decline in global oil prices in recent months; and that a handful of states have suspended taxes on gasoline.

On Thursday, the group of oil-producing countries known as OPEC revised down its forecast for oil demand this year.

Regardless of the causes, the lower prices are a welcome change for drivers for whom the added expense — often $10 to $15 extra for a tank of gas — had become yet another hurdle as they sought to get their lives back to normal as the coronavirus pandemic eases.

Oil prices have tumbled to their lowest point since the war in Ukraine began Feb. 24, a drop that reflects the growing concern of a global recession that will hit demand for crude.

But there are also several reasons that prices could rise again: The course of the war could further hamper global oil supplies because Russia is a major producer, energy investors’ views on the economy could change or hurricanes later this year could damage Gulf Coast refineries and pipelines enough to choke off supplies.