At this point last year, gas prices were racing toward $5 a gallon, angering Americans, alarming central bankers and threatening the entire economy. Flash forward 12 months: The national average currently stands at $3.54 a gallon, according to AAA. That’s down 21% from a year ago when the average was $4.47 a gallon and 29% from the June 2022 record of $5.02 a gallon. There are multiple reasons for the cheaper gas – and not all of them are good.
In fact, annual US oil output this year is projected to surpass the pre-Covid record set in 2019, according to the Energy Information Administration. All of this has helped depress not just gasoline prices but diesel, too. The national average for diesel – a key fuel in the economy because of it powers trucks that transports consumer goods – has dropped by 28% over the past year to $4 a gallon today.