US gas prices fall to lowest in over three years

Average US gas prices have fallen to their lowest in over three years. See how it compares to the cost of fuel in Sydney.

Average US gasoline prices fell below $3 USD a gallon (about $4.70) for the first time in over three years on Monday.

Meanwhile, the average price for regular unleaded fuel in Sydney was 195.7 cents per litre, according to NRMA’s weekly fuel report on Monday.

There are about 3.79 litres in one gallon, meaning Sydney’s average fuel price would be about 741.7 cents (about $7.41) a gallon.

The report said average regular unleaded prices fell 3.6 cents per litre this past week and are now expected to fall to mid-160s over the next two to three weeks.

Over in the US, average national fuel prices have declined for eight straight weeks, landing at $2.97 USD per gallon on Monday, according to market-tracker GasBuddy.com, which compiled data covering more than 150,000 gas stations across the country.

The US national average price for regular gasoline fell to $2.97 USD per gallon on Monday, the lowest since May 2021. Picture: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/AFP

It is the lowest national average price in the US since May 2021.

“One would need to count over 1300 days since we’ve seen the national average this low, with the affordability of gasoline at its lowest non-Covid level since 2015,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said.

“With average gas prices in 35 states and nearly 110,000 stations below $3 per gallon, Americans are putting in just 5.44 minutes of work to buy a gallon, the fewest minutes of work needed (excluding the pandemic) since 2015, when Americans needed to do just 5.25 minutes of work to buy a gallon.”

Prices in the US are expected to drop even further by Christmas. Picture: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/AFP

And it’s only expected to get better.

“The good news is that we’ll likely continue to see additional downward pressure on gas prices, with the national average potentially falling another 10 to 15 cents by Christmas,” Mr De Haan said.

The American states with the lowest average prices are Oklahoma ($2.42 USD), Texas ($2.56 USD), Mississippi ($2.56 USD) and the states with the highest average prices are Hawaii ($4.48 USD), California ($4.29 USD), and Washington ($3.91 USD).

Reuters reported that fuel availability had improved as refining capacity grew in the US and in other parts of the world, which eased some of the sting from global supply disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.