Fill ’er up: AAA says gas prices set to drop this fall
California drivers to see lower prices, but they’re still above national average
It looks like you’ll be able to pay a little less to get a little more gas in your car’s tank this fall.
The American Automobile Association on Thursday released its fall gas price forecast, and the auto service estimates that the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas will drop to $2.40 a gallon from its current $2.60- agallon level. According to AAA, the factors likely to drive down the cost of gas are lower crude oil prices, a historical drop- off in demand that comes after Labor Day and oil refiners switching over to less- expensive blends gas for winter driving.
AAA said that crude oil currently costs $50 to $60 a barrel, which is as much as a third less than the fall of 2018, when crude oil was going for $60 to $75 a barrel. Increases in domestic crude oil inventories are aiding the decline in oil prices, which in turn results in lower prices at the pump.
However, AAA cautioned that price drops could be stymied by the upcoming hurricane season, which could result in gas production and delivery delays in areas such as the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana. AAA said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted that this year’s Atlantic hurricane season will include five to nine hurricanes, and 10 to 17 named storms. AAA noted how, in 2017, Hurricane Harvey led to gas prices climbing by as much as 30 cents a gallon in a matter of a few days.
Assuming there are no major weather problems and that crude oil inventories remain high, where does that leave California? Will residents of the Golden State see gas prices in the neighborhood of AAA’s predicted $2.40- a- gallon national average? Sorry. According to AAA, the average gallon of regular unleaded in California currently costs $3.58. The good news, if you will, is that price doesn’t make California the most expensive state in the country for gas. That honor falls to Hawaii, where a gallon will set you back $3.67 on average.
Even if California’s current average gallon of gas declines by the 7.7% that AAA expects national gas prices to drop by this fall, that would shave 28 cents of a gallon statewide — bringing the state’s average price to $3.30 per gallon.
What about local prices? AAA says that in the San Jose metro area, regular unleaded is currently going for $3.54 a gallon, on average; in Oakland, that same gallon of gas averages $3.64. In San Francisco, you’ll pay an average of $3.67 a gallon.
If these local prices are enough to make you cringe when you fill up, know that some other parts of California have it worse. Among the major metro areas AAA tracks for gas prices, the region of San Luis Obispo, Atascadero and Paso Robles tops the state with gas averaging $3.86 a gallon.