OPEC+ meeting causes volatility in gas prices as Christmas travel nears

Published 6:07 am Monday, December 4, 2023

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Motorists eked out a drop in the national average over the last week, extending the streak to 11 straight weeks of decline, even as some states have seen prices jump.

Motorists can blame the OPEC+ meeting for causing oil to jump early last week and then plummet late last week for the volatility in gas prices, according to Patrick De Haan.

The head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy said the good news is as the dust settled, OPEC+ agreed to barely move the needle, deepening their production cuts by an additional 900,000 barrels per day in 2024, with Saudi Arabia extending its own million barrel per day cut through March.

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“However, that wasn’t enough to offset concerns of falling global demand, which pushed oil back down to below $73 in Sunday night trading, giving hope that the national average still could fall to $2.99/gal by the end of the year,” De Haan said.

Average gasoline prices in Texas have risen 4.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.70/g today, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 13,114 stations in Texas.

Prices in Texas are 15.4 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand 1.2 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 4.7 cents in the last week and stands at $4.18 per gallon.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Texas was priced at $1.92/g Sunday while the most expensive was $4.00/g, a difference of $2.08/g.

The national average price of gasoline has fallen 0.4 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.21/g today.

The national average is down 18.9 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 14.9 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million weekly price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.

Neighboring areas and their current gas prices:

• Midland Odessa – $2.70/g, down 5.7 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.76/g.
• San Antonio – $2.72/g, up 18.3 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.54/g.
• Austin – $2.75/g, up 15.3 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.59/g.

Historical gasoline prices in Texas and the national average going back ten years:

December 4, 2022: $2.71/g (U.S. Average: $3.36/g)
December 4, 2021: $2.92/g (U.S. Average: $3.36/g)
December 4, 2020: $1.84/g (U.S. Average: $2.16/g)
December 4, 2019: $2.22/g (U.S. Average: $2.61/g)
December 4, 2018: $2.12/g (U.S. Average: $2.44/g)
December 4, 2017: $2.25/g (U.S. Average: $2.47/g)
December 4, 2016: $1.94/g (U.S. Average: $2.18/g)
December 4, 2015: $1.84/g (U.S. Average: $2.04/g)
December 4, 2014: $2.48/g (U.S. Average: $2.72/g)
December 4, 2013: $3.11/g (U.S. Average: $3.24/g)