Gasoline prices slip before Thanksgiving

Gasoline prices in Oklahoma and nationwide have dropped over the past few days but still are set to mark the highest Thanksgiving gasoline prices in three years.

Gasoline prices have closely tracked oil prices, which also are down a bit over the past week after reaching two-year highs earlier this month.

“The biggest difference clearly this year is that oil prices are elevated. That’s because after Thanksgiving last year, OPEC decided to cut oil production,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick DeHaan said. “We’ve been feeling the heat from the production cuts they have largely complied with.”

Besides following oil price trends, U.S. gasoline prices also still are affected by the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, which knocked most of the Gulf Coast refineries offline for several days or weeks earlier this fall.

“We’re starting to see a recovery in gasoline inventories, but they still are at threeyear lows,” DeHaan said.

The average price for a gallon of gasoline in Oklahoma City on Tuesday was $2.19 a gallon, which is down 6 cents over the past week but up 2 cents over the past month, according to GasBuddy. The price is up 39 cents from one year ago.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the 15 lowest-priced stations in the metro area all were less than $1.99 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline.

Nationwide, the average price was $2.54 Tuesday, down 3.5 cents over the past week and up 9 cents over the past month. The national average was 41 cents more than one year ago.

Despite the increase from the past two years, Thanksgiving travel is expected to be up 3.2 percent from last year, AAA Oklahoma spokeswoman Leslie Gamble said.

“People are feeling like the economy nationally is stronger, and they feel confident in spending that money,” she said. “Also, the weather is

good. That’s going to be a factor across most of the United States.”

In Oklahoma and other oil-producing states, a modest increase in the price of gasoline and oil can benefit the economy even if it costs consumers at the pump.

“We’re seeing high consumer confidence,” Gamble said. “It’s been and continues to be a very

strong year for automobile travel and air travel, and that is continuing into this holiday season.”

Domestic benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices have surged throughout the fall, topping at $57.07 a barrel on Nov. 6. The uptick largely was fueled by a growing consensus that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will extend production cuts through 2018 when members meet next week, along with some political instability in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries.

“OPEC is largely expected to extend production cuts when it meets after Thanksgiving,” GasBuddy’s

DeHaan said. “The market has absorbed the likelihood of that happening. The market will be keenly watching the comments and tonality of the meeting.

“My gut is that oil prices will probably backtrack slightly. I think that through the end of the year, we still will be over $50, but it may back down from $55 or $56.”

Stable oil prices, along with lower seasonal gasoline demand over the next few months, likely will lead to stable gasoline

prices, he said.

“At the pump, it’s not going to spell a whole lot of relief,” DeHaan said. “We will still see most of Oklahoma’s gas stations charge over $2 a gallon, with a lucky few where you can snag prices below that level.”

The U.S. benchmark oil price gained 41 cents Tuesday to $56.84 a barrel. The wholesale gasoline price — which does not include taxes, transportation and other costs — added 3 cents Tuesday to $1.77 a gallon.