Local gas prices drop to average $1.91 a gallon
The average price of gasoline in Houston falls for the third consecutive week, giving holiday travelers something extra to be thankful for.
The average price of gasoline in the Houston area fell for the third consecutive week, giving the holiday travelers who will jam the roads over the next few days something for which to be thankful.
Going into the long Thanksgiving weekend, average prices locally and nationally are among the lowest in years, according to GasBuddy.com, a site that tracks retail gasoline prices. The average price in the Houston area fell nearly 5 cents a gallon this week, after sliding nearly 4 cents the previous week and 2 cents the week before that.
Local drivers paid an average of $1.91 a gallon at the beginning of the week, just above last year’s average of $1.86, which was the lowest for that period since at least 2011. In 2011 and 2012, local drivers paid $3.14 per gallon as Thanksgiving approached.
Nationally, gasoline prices
this were also among the lowest in several years. GasBuddy projected that prices nationally on Thanksgiving will average $2.11 cents a gallon, up from $2.05 cents in 2015, but 68 cents less than $2.79 a gallon in 2014.
In addition, GasBuddy added, this year marks the first time in more than a decade that no state has seen the average daily gas price breach $3 a gallon.
“With a record amount of travelers, motorists will be facing congestion not only on highways, but at gas stations,” said Patrick DeHaan, a GasBuddy senior analyst. “But at least low gas prices have lingered for much of this year.”
Gasoline prices have largely followed the price of crude oil, which has declined over the past few weeks as markets worried that the OPEC would not complete an agreement to cut output and reduce the global surplus. But with OPEC nations recently signaling confidence in reaching a deal when they meet in Vienna next week, crude has rallied.
Oil jumped $1.80 in New York trading Monday to settle at $47.49 a barrel, the highest settlement since Oct. 28.
DeHaan said that could mean the end of falling gasoline prices.
“Keep an eye on word from OPEC over the holiday weekend,” DeHaan said.
Regardless of the decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, oil prices likely will remain between $40 and $60 throughout 2017. That suggests that oil prices would only rise moderately next year.