Patrick DeHaan, the senior petroleum analyst at price-watcher GasBuddy, said there are already "tens of thousands" of filling stations listing a price below the $3 mark.
"Everyone will be seeing relief at the pump this week, with even more substantial declines on the way as oil prices plummeted last week to briefly trade under $80 per barrel," he said. "It's not impossible that if oil markets hold here, we could see a national average of $2.99 around Christmas, certainly the gift that every motorist is hoping for."
It will be a busy couple of days for travelers, though DeHaan said there's no reason to panic over supplies or prices. That said, AAA expects this year could be the third-busiest for Thanksgiving travel since the agency started keeping records in 2000.
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AAA estimates this Thanksgiving will be one of the busiest travel holidays since record-keeping began. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
Demand has been resilient against high levels of inflation. While it's moderating in the U.S. economy, inflation for the countries that use the euro is closer to 10%, leading to concerns about the health of the global economy. Those concerns are compounded by China's strict zero-tolerance policy on COVID-19 and, as a result, the price of crude oil is on the decline and taking gasoline along for the ride.
Brent, the global benchmark for the price of oil, was trading at $84.36 per barrel, down 3.7% as of 9:30 a.m. EST. It was about $10per barrel higher at the beginning of the month.