CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – GasBuddy’s annual Labor Day travel forecast predicts drivers will see the lowest gas prices about 13% lower than last year.
The forecast, released Tuesday morning, calls for the average price of gas falling to $3.27 per gallon on Labor Day, which would be the lowest price since 2021 and 50 cents per gallon lower than last year’s price. That would save Americans a combined $750 million over the Friday through Monday travel period.
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South Carolina gas prices typically fall lower than the national average, which stood at $3.30 as of Monday morning. But South Carolina’s average price for gas on Monday morning was 40 cents below that at $2.90. South Carolina was one of eight states in which gas was already below $3 per gallon, Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy said.
De Haan said lower demand has helped bring down gas prices since the $3.69-per-gallon peak in April.
“It’s been a great summer for motorists to hit the road with gas prices generally lower than last year,” he said. “But heading into Labor Day, the year-on-year gap has grown substantially thanks to few refinery outages or heatwaves impacting refineries this month.”
He said the quiet hurricane season, which means no threats to major refineries, could mean a late summer price spike will not happen.
“While many Americans may wish summer could last forever, the good news is we’re seeing perhaps the best opportunity in years for the national average to fall below $3 per gallon.,” De Haan said. “As we get closer to Thanksgiving, we should see tens of thousands of stations ultimately fall back below that level, all thanks to falling seasonal demand and cheaper winter gasoline, which is right around the corner.”
Gas stations in most states are set to begin the transition to winder blend gas on Sept. 16, which will likely help speed the drop in gas prices.
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Labor Day gas prices expected to be the lowest in three years
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