U.S. holiday commuters to save big on gas

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Low U.S. gasoline prices mean those traveling for Thanksgiving will save more than $650 million collectively over last year, price watcher GasBuddy said.

GasBuddy said its survey of more than 81,000 holiday travelers found more than 90 percent plan to drive at least 200 miles for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

GasBuddy reports a national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline of $2.86. Motor club AAA says the national average price for Tuesday is 4 cents lower than one week ago and 32 cents less than this date in 2013.

By surveying those who use its price survey application on their cell phones, GasBuddy said the low price at the pump translates to a collective saving of more than $160 million per day on holiday travel year-on-year.

AAA said in a weekly report Monday the average price is close to a four-year low.

"The price at the pump is closely tied to the wholesale price of crude oil, and falling global oil prices have been the primary contributing factor to the price at the pump declining for 53 consecutive days," the motor club explained Monday. "This is the longest streak of declines since 2008."

AAA said all eyes are on next week's meeting of members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Should OPEC keep output steady, global crude oil prices, and subsequently gasoline prices, will continue to fall.