GasBuddy, a PDI company and the leading fuel savings platform saving North American drivers the most money on fuel, released its annual Labor Day travel forecast, predicting the average price of gas in the U.S. on Labor Day weekend will fall gently to $3.75 per gallon, virtually identical to what motorists experienced for Labor Day weekend last year. Gasoline demand may also rise to 9.2 million barrels for the week ahead of Labor Day as motorists begin pre-filling their tanks, making it potentially the weekend with the strongest demand of the summer driving season, behind that of July 4th.
Gas prices have remained relatively quiet this summer, but began spiking in late July and August as Saudi Arabia and Russia cut production, pushing oil prices higher. Record temperatures in the South also caused unexpected refinery disruptions, contributing to a nearly 35-cent jump. While gas prices have started to ease as the summer winds down, there still could be one last hurrah at the pump before things cool off this fall.
“Oil prices have eased slightly on concerns over China’s struggling economy, and as oil production increases in the U.S. to nearly pre-Covid levels. However, with the tropics becoming more active in recent weeks, there remain threats to gas prices for the next few weeks,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “If we can escape further unexpected oil production cuts and outages due to hurricanes, we may avoid an unexpected surge in gas prices, with the downturn accelerating as we get into late-September and stations transition back to cheaper gasoline. We could see a national average of $3.25/gal by the end of the year if all goes well.”
Gas stations will be allowed to start the transition back to winter blend gas on September 16, which should help alleviate inflated prices for some drivers around the U.S. due to lower cost. For Americans hitting the road one last time for the summer, GasBuddy reminds travelers to be wary of crossing state lines, where gas prices often become much more volatile. Shopping around before crossing state lines can save motorists 25-50 cents per gallon in some situations.
