Texas has nation’s cheapest gas at 37cents per gallon below the national average

A new study found that Texas has had the cheapest gas prices in the country so far in 2023, at 37 cents a gallon below the national average.

The car subscription service. Finnish found that Texans paid an average of $3,086 for regular-grade gasoline in January and February, below the current national average of $3.40.

Finn’s study found that Texans could drive farther on $50 of gasoline, which in Texas bought about 16.2 gallons and in a Ford F-150 would power drivers for 356.45 miles.

Following Texas for the cheapest gasoline were Mississippi averaging $3,124 a gallon, and Oklahoma and Missouri averaging $3,136 a gallon.

The most expensive states for gasoline were Hawaii, where gasoline averaged $4,907 per gallon, and California, where a gallon averaged $4,617.

Finn’s data noted that Texas ranked sixth in the nation for the number of miles residents traveled in a day and for increased miles traveled over 23 years.

“In the US, Texas ranks sixth in daily travel with 17,123 lane miles and is also sixth for an increase in vehicle travel miles since 2000, at a rate of 49%,” it said. read in the study

‘This is 23% higher than the national average, which stands at 26%.’

Gasoline prices have fallen further in Texas since the survey was conducted, sitting at $2.97 a gallon on Monday. That’s slightly more expensive than Mississippi, which has the cheapest gas in the country at $2.95 a gallon.

Finn’s data also found that Texas ranked second in the nation for the smallest increase in gasoline prices over ten years.

The study noted that in 2013 the average price of gasoline in Texas was $2,763 per gallon, bringing the 2023 average of $3,086 per gallon thus far to 11.69% over the past decade.

“As mentioned above, Texas currently holds the title of state with the lowest gasoline prices,” the study said. “However, it is the 11th most congested state with a rate of 58%, which is 11% higher than the national average.”

Hawaii and California also ranked near the bottom of that list, showing the highest increase in average gasoline prices in a ten-year period.

California jumped a whopping 56.14 percent from a 2013 average of $2,957 a gallon to a 2023 average of $4,617 a gallon, and Hawaii increased 57.53 percent from $3,115 a gallon to $4,907 a gallon.

Texans paid an average of $3,086 for regular-grade gasoline in January and February, below the current national average of $3.40

Finn’s data comes after the United States was hit by runaway gasoline prices in 2022, which averaged $5.01 a gallon in June.

Although prices eventually fell from that staggering high, experts warn that 2023 won’t be entirely a return to cheaper times at the pump.

2023 is not going to be a piece of cake for motorists. It could be expensive,” Patrick De Haan, head of oil analysis at GasBuddy, told CNN in December.

“The national average could top $4 a gallon in May, and that’s something that could last through much of the summer driving season,” he added.

GasBuddy project prices will rise to a range of $3.52 to $4.05 in May as the summer driving season begins and demand increases.

Average gasoline prices in the US currently sit at $3,405.

Gasoline prices typically rise in the summer as more Americans hit the road and refiners switch to a more expensive summer formula aimed at cutting air pollution.

GasBuddy did not project a return to $5 a gallon for gas next year.

De Haan told CNN that he expects prices to peak at $4.25 a gallon in August before falling back to $3 a gallon by the end of the year.

The federal Energy Information Administration has issued similar projections, seeing gasoline prices average $3.51 over the course of 2023, down from the $3.99 average in 2022.

Gas prices rise and fall primarily based on the international price of crude oil. For every $10 increase in the price of a barrel of oil, a gallon of gasoline goes up about 20 cents.

Oil prices soared in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, which led to bans on Russian oil exports. OPEC also cut production despite pleas from the Biden administration.

US production has also failed to return to the record levels reached before the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down many marginal producers amid falling demand.

Starting in March, Biden withdrew 180 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, bringing the reserve to its lowest level since the 1980s.

The reserve was created after the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s to provide the United States with a supply that could be used in an emergency.

Tapping into the reserve is one of the few things a president can do himself to try to control inflation that often creates political liability for the party that controls the White House.