The Shadow
RICHMOND — For the 49 million Americans hitting the road for the Thanksgiving holiday, they will find gas prices mostly similar, if not cheaper, than last year’s holiday.
The national average is $2.59. That is just a few cents over the 2018 holiday weekend average of $2.57.
“During Thanksgiving week last year we saw the national gas price average decrease a nickel between Monday and Thursday, that could be the case again this year,” said Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokeswoman. “AAA recommends holiday road-trippers use the AAA app to find current gas prices along their route.”
Today, 61 percent of all gas stations in the country are selling regular unleaded for $2.50 or less. On the week, gas prices are flat.
The nation’s top 10 least expensive markets are: Louisiana ($2.21), Mississippi ($2.22), Texas ($2.25), Missouri ($2.25), Alabama ($2.27), Oklahoma ($2.28), South Carolina ($2.28), Arkansas ($2.29), Tennessee ($2.30) and Virginia ($2.31).
The nation’s top 10 largest weekly changes are: Ohio (-12 cents), California (-9 cents), Michigan (+8 cents), Oregon (-5 cents), Alaska (-5 cents), Nevada (-5 cents), Washington (-4 cents), Pennsylvania (+4 cents), Utah (+4 cents) and Missouri (-3 cents).
States in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region carry some of the largest year-over-year gas price savings with six state averages at least a dime cheaper than last Thanksgiving week.
This includes: Connecticut (-19 cents), Rhode Island (-17 cents), New York (-15 cents), Vermont (-14 cents), New Hampshire (-15 cents) and Washington, D.C. (-11 cents).
However, motorists filling up in Delaware (+12 cents), Maryland (+5 cents) and Pennsylvania (+3 cents) are paying more than this time last year.
On the week, gas prices are relatively flat with most states seeing gas prices decrease a few cents. Pennsylvania (+4 cents) and Virginia (+1 cent) were the only states to see pump prices increase.
Motorists could see some small increases at the pump nearer Thanksgiving and heavy travel times. An increase could also be the result of decreasing stocks in the region. The latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) report shows a draw of 1.78 million bbl which brings the current total stock to 58.3 million bbl.
Crude prices increased slightly in recent reports (about a nickel) due to reports that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its partners are likely to extend their current production reduction agreement through the middle of 2020.
