Summer gas prices haven't been this low since 2021
The last time the cost for drivers was lower in late June was in 2021, when the pandemic depressed demand for the fuel. Gas prices are usually higher during the summer months, when demand rises as many Americans get in their cars for vacations and to see family.
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AAA expects that travel for the Fourth of July, which this year falls on a Friday, will be record-breaking. Next week, 72.2 million Americans are expected to travel domestically. AAA projects that nearly 62 million of them will do so in cars, 2.2 percent more than in 2024.
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'People are still prioritizing the travel itself,' said Kellan Howell, a spokesperson for the motor club. 'Taking vacations, taking those trips, is still really important to a lot of Americans.'
Oil prices, which play a big role in the cost of gasoline, jumped sharply after Israel attacked Iran, with the global oil price, known as Brent, jumping about 7 percent. But those prices fell this week and are more or less back to where they were before the attack. Brent was trading around $67 a barrel Wednesday.
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'Assuming the cease-fire holds, there's no resumption of conflict, the gasoline prices should remain where they are,' said Robert McNally, an energy adviser to President George W. Bush who is now president of Rapidan Energy Group, a Washington research firm.
'President Trump desperately wants to avoid an oil price spike and just close down the war,' McNally added.
Even with the sudden increase this month, oil is trading roughly in line with previous summers. This year, the cost of crude oil had been kept low in part because the OPEC+ oil cartel has announced plans to increase production.
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