Filling up at the pump for Thanksgiving weekend will likely cost Americans the most in three years. After that, analysts say, prices should drop as weak winter demand takes effect.
Gasoline prices reached $2.89 a gallon earlier this week and appeared set to eclipse the high for the year of $2.92. A number of factors, from rising oil prices to lower U.S. production due to seasonal refinery maintenance, contributed to a 5-cent increase in retail gas prices in the past month.
But oil prices have retreated almost 7 percent in the past week, a decline that will soon show up at the pump. And gasoline demand will tail off once Americans are done with their road trips for the long holiday weekend.
“Probably as soon as the turkey’s done, you’ll start to see prices head back down,” PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn said.
The national average for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline was $2.883 Friday, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That’s still about a quarter more than a year ago.
Sandy Shore, The Associated Press
