As a projected record 45
million Americans prepare to drive at least 50 miles from home over the long
Memorial
Day weekend, drivers are running into the highest holiday gas prices the
country has seen in four years.
According to AAA
Travel, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline now
sits at $4.56, climbing slightly (3 cents) from last week and jumping $1.38
from where prices stood a year ago. The latest numbers put fuel costs nearly on
par with Memorial Day 2022, when prices averaged $4.61 per gallon nationwide
over the holiday weekend.
One major factor
keeping prices high is the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical
global shipping route for oil. Combined with increased travel demand, the
pressure at the pump isn’t about to ease up anytime soon.
According to
fresh data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline demand
ticked up slightly last week, rising from 8.75 million barrels per day to 8.76
million. Meanwhile, domestic gasoline supplies fell from 215.7 million barrels
to 214.2 million barrels, while gasoline production also declined.
Drivers on the
West Coast continue to feel the strain most acutely. California
leads the nation with the highest average gas prices at $6.14 per gallon,
followed by Washington at $5.78, Hawaii
at $5.64, Oregon at $5.35 and Alaska
at $5.27. Other states rounding out the top 10 most expensive fuel markets
include Nevada ($5.27), Illinois ($5.01), Arizona
($4.81), Colorado ($4.76) and Ohio ($4.76).
Meanwhile,
Southern and Midwestern states are offering a little relief for road trippers.
Mississippi currently has the nation’s cheapest gas at $4.01 per gallon, with
Georgia and Indiana coming in close behind at $4.03 and $4.04, respectively.
The rest of the top 10 states with the lowest average gas prices include Louisiana
($4.05), Texas ($4.09), Oklahoma ($4.09), Kansas
($4.11), Arkansas ($4.12), Alabama ($4.17) and South
Carolina ($4.17).
For electric
vehicle drivers, there was at least one bit of stability heading into the
holiday weekend. The national average cost at public EV charging stations held
steady at 41 cents per kilowatt hour over the past week.
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