S.A. gas prices among lowest in U.S.
2 other cities sell for less; U.S. average 36 cents higher
Gasoline prices are surging in Texas and across the U.S., but San Antonio drivers are still paying some of the cheapest prices in the country.
The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the San Antonio metro area was $2.38 on Thursday, or about 36 cents cheaper than the national average, according to the gas price tracking website Gasbuddy.
Monroe, La, and Jackson and Gulfport, Miss., were the only U.S. cities with cheaper gas prices than San Antonio.
Across Texas, the average price for a gallon of gas was $2.47 on Thursday.
After the coronavirus pandemic sent oil prices plummeting a year ago, demand has largely rebounded and prices have risen steadily since the end of 2020.
A year ago, San Antonio drivers paid just over $2 per gallon. The statewide average was $2.10.
The oil market, meanwhile, has recovered from the beating it took last year. The price of West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. oil benchmark, on Thursday reached its highest level since 2019.
The price was expected to continue climbing after members of OPEC+ agreed to maintain most of the oil production cuts that the cartel of oil producing-nations made last spring amid the drop in global fuel demand.
After the OPEC news, the price of WTI rose more than 4 percent and closed just above $64 per barrel Thursday. Since Jan. 1, the price of WTI has risen more than 30 percent.
OPEC’S decision to suppress the global supply of oil is likely to send the price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. to above $3 by Memorial Day weekend, according to Pat
rick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at Gasbuddy.
Average gas prices in the U.S. haven’t topped $3 per gallon since 2014.
“As vaccines have spread country to country, demand for oil has rebounded notably,” De Haan wrote in a blog post Thursday after the OPEC+ meeting.
Last week, U.S. demand for retail gasoline topped 8.1 million barrels per day. That was up from the prior week but still down from a year ago, when demand was above 9 million barrels per day, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Another reason for increasing gas prices: The historic winter storm that struck Texas last month disrupted operations at refineries across the state. While refiners are working to get back to normal production levels, drivers in Texas should expect gas prices to rise an additional 5 to 10 cents per gallon in coming weeks, according to AAA Texas.
“March could bring the highest pump prices this year, barring any issues during hurricane season,” AAA Texas spokesman Daniel Armbruster said. By the end of March, however, “we could see some relief at the pump as refineries resume normal operations, especially if crude oil prices show signs of stability.”