U.S. Drivers Will Enjoy Cheapest Labor Day Gasoline In 12 Years

Drivers will be enjoying the cheapest gas this Labor Day weekend than they have in 12 years. According to a new report by GasBuddy, motorists have saved $18.9 billion at the pump this summer compared to last summer.

Gas prices have been ticking higher in recent weeks, but they will still fall well short of prices seen in other recent Labor Day weekends.

“As the holiday approaches, it’s true that gasoline prices have risen across the country due in part to rumors of production cuts from OPEC which could begin to correct the balance of supply and demand, but take note — it could be just the third time in a decade prices are rising ahead of Labor Day,” analyst Patrick DeHaan explained.

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GasBuddy is projecting that gasoline prices will average $2.19/gallon across the country this weekend. That’s slightly below the $2.24/gallon average price throughout the entire summer of 2016. Last Labor Day weekend, the national gas price was $2.70, marking the first time in five years that prices dipped below $3/gallon.

In the past 12 years, the highest national price U.S. drivers paid for gasoline on Labor Day weekend was $3.84/gallon back in 2008.

According to Gas Buddy, South Carolina drivers will pay the cheapest average price for gasoline this weekend at only about $1.95/gallon. Hawaii drivers will pay the highest gas prices of any state at around $2.74/gallon.

So far in 2016, the United States Oil Fund LP (ETF) USO is down 2.3 percent and the United States Gasoline Fund, LP UGA is down 15.7 percent.