People hitting the road for Thanksgiving should see some relief at the pump compared to last year, as local gas prices continue to fall ahead of the holiday.
The average gas price in Massachusetts on Monday was down four cents from last week ($3.46), averaging $3.42 per gallon, according to AAA Northeast. Meanwhile, the national gas price average has had its longest weekly streak of declines in over a year.
Monday’s average price in the Bay State was 20 cents lower than a month ago ($3.62), and 39 cents lower than last Nov. 20 ahead of Thanksgiving ($3.81).
Massachusetts’ average gas price is 12 cents higher than the national average ($3.30). Gas in New England remains more expensive partly because of ongoing maintenance at key oil refineries that service the region, AAA Northeast said.
“Drivers this Thanksgiving can expect cheaper gas compared to last year, but pump prices in New England are still above the national average for now,” said AAA Northeast Senior Spokesperson Mark Schieldrop.
“The gap between the regional and national averages could narrow when production returns to normal levels after the holiday,” he added.
AAA projects that more than 55 million travelers will journey 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving holiday. The predicted travel volume this year would be a 2.3% jump over last year, and would be the third-highest Thanksgiving travel since AAA began tracking in 2000. The top two years were 2005 and 2019.
More than 49 million Americans are expected to drive to their destinations, a 1.7% increase over last year.
The nation’s average price of gasoline has dropped for the ninth consecutive week, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 12 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.
The national average is down 26 cents from a month ago, and 37 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 7 cents in the last week and stands at $4.28 per gallon — $1.02 lower than one year ago.
“As millions of Americans gear up to hit the road for Thanksgiving, the national average is seeing its longest streak of declines in over a year, reaching a ninth straight week as gas prices fall to their lowest since January,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
“GasBuddy now counts over 65,000 stations with a price of $2.99 per gallon or lower, while 11 states are seeing average prices below $3,” he added. “In addition, we could see five more states join the sub-$3 club by Thanksgiving. The fall in gas prices, largely seasonal due to weakening gasoline demand, could extend for another week or two, leading to potentially the lowest gas prices since 2021 by Christmas.”
The states with the lowest average prices right now are: Mississippi ($2.75), Texas ($2.77), and Oklahoma ($2.79). And the states with the highest average prices are: California ($4.93), Hawaii ($4.67), and Washington ($4.37).
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