NoVA Christmas 2022 Gas Prices Drop Below $3 A Gallon

VIRGINIA — Drivers in Virginia are seeing continued relief at the pump as gas prices fell to an average of about $2.96 for a gallon for regular gas on Friday, 21 cents lower than Christmas week 2021, and a 46-cent drop from a month ago.

Nationally, the average price for a gallon of regular gas Friday was $3.09, down 21 cents from $3.30 last year, according to the AAA auto club, which tracks gas price changes and provides daily updates.

The travel app GasBuddy predicts the national average price of gas will drop to $2.98 a gallon on Christmas Day, a price that would set an 18-month low for consumers. A price under $3 would be about $2 per gallon lower than record high prices paid in June.

Holiday shoppers may have a little more jingle in their pockets this year thanks to plummeting gas prices, AAA said. The national average pump price slid 12 cents since last week to $3.14. There are now about 20 states with averages below $3 per gallon.

Related: Best, Worst Times To Get Out Of NoVA For Christmas, New Year's Travel

“The cost of oil, gasoline’s main ingredient, has been hovering in the low-to-mid $70s per barrel, and that’s $50 less than the peak last spring,” said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson. “Combined with low seasonal demand, gas prices could slide a bit more before leveling off.”

Consistent with most travel holidays, more than 90 percent of travelers – an estimated 2.5 million Washington-metro area residents — are expected to take to the roads to reach their holiday destinations, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

DC and Northern Virginia drivers will travel 50 miles or more away from home over the end-of-year holiday travel period, an increase of 2.5 percent compared to 2021 actual travel.

The Biden administration has been drawing down the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve since spring as part of its strategy to lower gas prices, which were already straining Americans’ budgets when they were driven up further by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Americans are paying about a $2 a gallon less than they were in June, when the average price for a gallon of gas nationally was about $5.

The price at the pump reflects decreased demand, which drove oil prices lower.

Prices for other fuels remain higher than they were a year ago. Diesel fuel, especially, is painfully expensive, averaging $5 on average, compared with $3.11 a gallon this time last year. In Virginia, the average price for a gallon of diesel on Wednesday was $4.88, a sharp increase from $3.50 a year ago.

Prices for mid-grade and premium gasoline are also lower than they were a year ago. The Virginia average for mid-grade fuel was about $3.40 a gallon, compared to $3.57 a year ago; premium fuel prices are about 17 cents a gallon lower than they were a year ago, averaging $3.72 a gallon Wednesday.

Gas prices are still higher than they have been in the past several years. President Joe Biden has criticized energy companies such as Exxon, Mobil and Chevron for record-breaking quarterly profits. Global oil and gas producers’ net income is expected to double this year to an “unprecedented” $4 trillion, according to an International Energy Agency report.

In October, just days before the midterm elections, Biden called on Congress to levy tax penalties against oil companies if they don’t invest some of their profits in lowering prices at the pump.

“It’s time for these companies to stop war profiteering, meet their responsibilities in this country and give the American people a break and still do very well,” he said.

The falling prices give Americans a little more flexibility to fight inflation, but doesn’t necessarily provide much breathing room for the Federal Reserve to hold off on interest rate hikes to tame inflation.

“It’s good for households, and it’s good for affordability,” Beth Ann Bovino, the U.S. chief economist at the financial analysis firm S&P Global, told The New York Times. “But at the same time the easing up of pricing pressure at the gas pump leaves more money to spend elsewhere, that might give a near-term boost to inflation, which the Fed would have to fight.”