The national average price for gasoline fell to $3.98 per gallon Tuesday, a figure not seen since July.
AAA data showed gasoline averaging $3.9788 per gallon, down nearly 39 cents from $4.3669 one month ago. Falling oil prices and a seasonal decline in gasoline demand have helped bring prices down.
Energy prices rose 0.7% in October, compared with a 5.2% increase in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Temperatures are getting colder,” said Patrick De Haan, a petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. “People who have boats and RVs are probably done for the year. I would say, by Thanksgiving, so long as we don’t get any wild cards geopolitically, the national average could be $3.75 a gallon.”
Diesel prices have also fallen over the past month—down 13 cents per gallon.
President Donald Trump predicted in September that oil and gasoline prices would fall after the midterm elections.
“Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward,” Trump said in September. “They’re going to be tumbling down, and we’ll get them down. I think for gasoline, we’ll get them below $2 a gallon.”
Trump tied that prediction to an anticipated end to the war in Iran, saying the country would not be able to sustain its war effort after the election “because they can’t hold out any longer.”
Late last month, the Trump administration announced that the first 1 million barrels of Venezuelan oil secured under a new agreement had arrived in Texas. The White House said the oil would be refined in Texas to increase fuel supplies and help lower gasoline and diesel prices.
Despite the recent declines, both fuels remain substantially more expensive than a year ago, when gasoline averaged $3.07 per gallon and diesel averaged $3.73, according to AAA.
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