The average price of gasoline in the United States has fallen below $3 per gallon for the first time in four years, according to AAA data cited by The Daily Wire, offering some relief to motorists heading into the holiday season.
According to data from AAA cited by The Daily Wire, the national average gas price is $2.978 per gallon, marking the first time in four years that the average has dropped below $3.
The Daily Wire reports that the last time the national average was at or under $3 per gallon was in May 2021, during the Biden administration and amid ongoing COVID-19 measures in states such as California.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright highlighted the benefits for households in an interview with Fox Business, saying, “As you go into the holiday season, there is nothing better than saving money,” according to The Daily Wire.
He linked the trend to the current administration’s priorities, adding, “This is what happens when the American public elects a president who cares about their pocketbook, cares about American people and not special interests or the climate crazies or whatever interest the Democrats are trying to appease. President Trump’s just focused on the American consumer,” The Daily Wire reported.
State-level price differences remain wide. Based on AAA figures cited by The Daily Wire, California has the highest average price at $4.51 per gallon, followed by Hawaii. The lowest prices are reported in Oklahoma at $2.40, Texas at $2.53, Arkansas at $2.55, Colorado at $2.56, Mississippi at $2.57, Tennessee at $2.58, Louisiana at $2.60, Iowa and Wisconsin at $2.63 each, and Missouri at $2.64.
The article also notes that President Trump expressed optimism that prices could fall further. “We’re gonna be, I think, at $2 a gallon,” he said during a recent press conference, according to The Daily Wire. “We could even crack that at some point, I’d love to do it. We could do it more easily if we weren’t building up the Strategic National Reserves, which Biden emptied out before the election.” He was referring to the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the federal government’s emergency crude oil stockpile stored in large underground salt caverns along the Gulf Coast.
Crude oil prices are described as hovering around $60 per barrel, a level that has helped drive gasoline prices lower, The Daily Wire reported.
Wright said he expects domestic production to continue to grow. “We will see increasing production in the next six to 12 months out of the Gulf of America. If you look carefully at the oil production data in the U.S., as a whole right now, it’s almost a million barrels a day higher than it was 12 months ago. So even with low oil prices, we’re seeing more development. Just common sense is back in town,” he said, according to The Daily Wire. The region he referenced corresponds to the Gulf of Mexico, a major hub of U.S. offshore oil production.
The Daily Wire further cites projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration that the national average gasoline price will remain below $3 per gallon in 2026.