As global events that contributed to higher gas prices in recent years like the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine "get further away in the rear view," said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, "the market is coming into a better sense of balance."
"So it certainly is good news for the incumbent party, potentially, that gas prices are falling, though I do expect there will continue to be a lot of noise from politicians on both sides of the aisle on this issue," he said.
The national average gasoline price was around $3.24 a gallon Thursday, down from $3.31 a week ago and $3.44 a month ago.
U.S. oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate was trading at around $69 per barrel Thursday afternoon after being as high as $83 per barrel in early July.
The decline in prices is typical for the early fall, said DeHaan.
"Americans don't tend to get out as much in fall, certainly not in winter, and that leads to less gasoline demand," he said. "In addition, we're less than a week away from switching to a cheaper blend of gasoline that can be rolled out simply, we call that winter gasoline."
Meanwhile Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at the Oil Price Information Service, attributed the low oil prices to several factors including expectations that supply will increase in the coming months.
Kloza particularly cited plans from a group of oil-producing nations known as OPEC+ to begin ramping up oil production in December. The plans have been delayed after previously being slated for October, but when they take effect, they are expected to bring more oil supply to the market.
"Supply and demand are fairly balanced, but the notion that on Dec. 1 we're to get some more crude oil from OPEC+ countries and we're going to see the growth in non-OPEC, means that there's nobody chasing oil higher, there's no one parking money in oil futures, and I think that's why the numbers are so distressed these days," Kloza said.
Read more at TheHill.com.
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