"Americans are seeing the cheapest summertime gas prices since 2021 — more than 20 cents lower than one year ago — as President Donald J. Trump delivers on his promises of lower prices, stable inflation, and higher wages.”
That message from the Donald Trump White House reminds Americans that travel over this Independence Day holiday weekend can be considered cheap, if not convenient.
There may be a record number of travelers on planes, but the number of those loading up their cars to go everywhere from visiting relatives to getaway locations will likely be high too, because of relatively cheap gas.
But it's not just the White House saying gas is cheap, the American Automobile Association agrees, and so does another company that watches gas prices, GasBuddy.
And then there's Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the Lundberg Survey, which samples gas prices around the world every week.
Gasoline prices are tied to crude oil prices, she notes, and it all went up just after the Israel-Iran bombing campaigns started, then went up again when the US bombed Iran, but have been headed down since, though they're still about ten cents higher than it should be as the July 4th weekend approaches.
"But because of the events' effects on crude oil prices and things that are happening in the Middle East, that dime rise could be reversed -- and then some."
It's also possible, she says, that gas prices will drop even more before we get to the holiday.
"In the very next few days we'll be seeing even more lower crude oil prices turn into lower gasoline wholesale prices that dealers and distributors pay."
We'll just have to see if the crude prices come down soon enough to be reflected in prices by this weekend.