Gas prices are set for their cheapest Memorial Day since 2021

New York CNN The nearly million Americans expected to hit the roads this Memorial Day weekend will have something to make them smile while sitting in traffic cheap gas prices The national average price of a gallon of gasoline is expected to be on Memorial Day according to projections published Tuesday by fuel savings platform GasBuddy That would be the lowest gas price at the unofficial start of summer since and well below GasBuddy s average of last Memorial Day It s also sharply lower than when gas prices on Memorial Day stood at The findings underscore how the relatively low cost of fuel has emerged as one of the biggest bright spots in the US business activity even as a bargain war and worries about slower economic increase persist This is a win for consumers And if the stars align later this summer we could even see the national average drop below a gallon Patrick DeHaan GasBuddy s head of petroleum analysis narrated CNN in a phone interview On an inflation-adjusted basis gas is expected to drop to the cheapest Memorial Day price since excluding the Covid- pandemic according to GasBuddy information shared with CNN Americans have to work less to fill up their tank De Haan mentioned Yet it s also true that one of the reasons potency prices are muted is concern that Trump s tariffs will damage the US and world economies The roads are expected to be jammed with travelers this holiday weekend AAA forecasts that million people will passage by car over Memorial Day weekend up from last year and ahead of Subdued gas prices are a highly visible way to drive down the cost of living one of the leading frustrations among voters last balloting Americans are just bombarded by the price of gasoline noted Bob McNally president of consulting firm Rapidan Potential Group Lower gas prices are like a psychological tax cut Even if you re not filling up your tank that day chances are you re seeing the price when you drive around Lower gas prices have already contributed to better-than-expected inflation reports in March and April It s a trend that could continue GasBuddy projects prices will average a gallon for the entire summer period of Memorial Day through Labor Day After gas prices surged to record highs in following Russia s invasion of Ukraine President Donald Trump has focused intensely on combating potency prices by promising to unleash domestic production slash red tape and push OPEC to add supply US oil prices have plunged about since Trump s second term began Analysts say that drop has been driven in part by Saudi Arabia and OPEC s sharp production increases moves that Trump publicly called for days after taking office during a high-profile speech at Davos McNally a former White House force advisor to President George W Bush declared Trump s efforts to encourage Saudi Arabia to pump more oil appear to have helped McNally noted that besides the Davos speech Trump has taken a lighter touch with pressuring Saudi Arabia especially compared with the intense pressure the president has put on Walmart China and his handpicked Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell to follow his procedures preferences He s been more deft this time McNally declared referring to Trump s efforts to persuade OPEC to pump more However cheaper oil also reflects fears about a separate Trump initiative a global transaction war that business leaders and economists worry is hurting the business sector Oil prices crashed to four-year lows in early April when Trump s sky-high tariffs sent recession fears skyrocketing Crude the lifeblood of the modern financial sector rebounded after Trump paused several of those tariffs Another factor behind lower oil prices Trump has not followed through on former President Joe Biden s final-hours move on January to target Russia s potential sector with harsh sanctions A lot of the reason crude prices have fallen is pessimism about the financial market and Saudi Arabia and OPEC producing more explained McNally Unfortunately for consumers gasoline prices have not fallen by nearly as much as crude In other words gas prices are technically high relative to where oil is trading McNally blames that mismatch on the shutdown of refineries around the United States as forecasters projected weaker gasoline demand due to the rise of electric vehicles It s like Mark Twain declared Reports of gasoline s death are premature It s not dying but we are reducing the production of it McNally revealed