A customer gets gas at a Shell station on May 15 in Miami, Florida. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images via CNN Newsource)
(CNN) — Road trips are not going to break the bank this Fourth of July.
GasBuddy projects the national average price for regular gas will stand at $3.49 a gallon on Independence Day.
That’s a penny shy of the price a year ago and down sharply from $4.79 two years ago when oil prices spiked after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Adjusted for inflation, U.S. gas prices are almost exactly where they were in July 2018, according to federal data.
Drivers in some parts of the country will spend much less on gas than last Fourth of July.
According to GasBuddy, the average price for regular gas is down by 71 cents from a year ago in the state of Washington, 60 cents in Oregon, 44 cents in Utah and 42 cents in Colorado.
ZIP codes in Chicago showed average gas price between $4.30 and $4.74 on July 3, according to GasBuddy.
The drop in gas prices comes despite what’s expected to be strong demand for fuel.
A record of nearly 61 million people are expected to be on the roads this Fourth of July, according to AAA. That would be 5% more than a year ago and 10% more than July 2019 before Covid-19.
Although gas prices are down from April, hurricane season could change that.
Analysts blamed Hurricane Beryl — the earliest Category 5 storm on record — for helping to boost U.S. oil prices above $84 a barrel on Tuesday for the first time since late April.
While Hurricane Beryl does not currently pose a major threat to US energy facilities, traders are betting an active 2024 hurricane season could eventually impact US oil output or refinery activity.
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