Gas Falls 23 Cents in a Month as Colorado Drops 39 Cents in a Week

• The AAA national average for regular fell to $4.1493 a gallon on Nov. 3, down 11.68 cents in a week and 23.14 cents in a month.
• The Energy Information Administration’s weekly survey shows Colorado down 39.0 cents and Ohio down 29.0 cents in a week, while New York slipped only 3.2 cents.
• Regular still costs $1.11 more than a year ago and diesel sits at $6.2875, and Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy told ABC News that both remain very elevated.

Where Your Pump Price Fell the Most This Week

The AAA national average for a gallon of regular unleaded stood at $4.1493 on Nov. 3. A week earlier it was $4.2661 and a month earlier $4.3807, so the average has dropped 11.68 cents in seven days and 23.14 cents in 30 days. A driver who fills a 15-gallon tank pays $1.75 less than last week and $3.47 less than last month (the cents saved multiplied by 15 gallons).

The relief reached some places far more than others. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) surveys retail prices weekly and published its latest reading on Nov. 3, with prices as of Nov. 2. Colorado fell 39.0 cents in a week to $4.068 a gallon, Ohio fell 29.0 cents to $4.090 and Florida fell 22.6 cents to $3.791. Denver dropped 39.1 cents to $4.016. At the other end of the scale, New York lost 3.2 cents to reach $4.217 and Massachusetts lost 4.1 cents to reach $4.104.

AAA’s own state figures tell the same story. Michigan’s average dropped 30 cents in a week, Ohio’s 29 cents and Iowa’s 18 cents. Drivers in those three states saved between $2.70 and $4.50 on a 15-gallon fill.

The two sources report different days, so the same state carries a slightly different price in each. EIA’s numbers include all taxes and run to Monday, Nov. 2. AAA’s run to Tuesday, Nov. 3. California shows $5.748 in the EIA survey and $5.90 in AAA’s weekly state list. Read the direction and the size of each move, and expect a few cents of difference in the level.

Every Region Fell, but the Gap Between Coasts Stays Wide

Every region in the EIA survey posted a lower average than a week earlier. The Rocky Mountain region dropped 24.5 cents to $4.213, the Midwest 16.7 cents to $4.102, the Lower Atlantic region 13.7 cents to $3.695 and the West Coast 12.1 cents to $5.296. The Gulf Coast lost 6.6 cents to land at $3.636, New England lost 5.4 cents and the Central Atlantic region lost 1.9 cents to reach $4.232.

Those last two readings show how little some drivers felt. The Central Atlantic average moved by less than 2 cents, and the East Coast as a whole fell 8.6 cents to $3.936.

The distance between the cheapest and the most expensive region has not closed. The West Coast average of $5.296 is $1.66 above the Gulf Coast average of $3.636, which adds $24.90 to every 15-gallon fill. California alone sits at $5.748 in the EIA survey, down 14.0 cents on the week and still $2.17 above Texas at $3.578, a difference of $32.55 per fill. Los Angeles is at $5.742, San Francisco at $5.699 and Seattle at $5.283, while Houston is at $3.625. California gas prices topped $6 in late October, and the state has eased from there, though no West Coast city in the survey comes near the national average.

AAA’s weekly report lists the ten most expensive states as California at $5.90, Hawaii at $5.66, Nevada at $5.24, Washington at $5.20, Oregon at $4.79, Alaska at $4.76, Illinois at $4.71, Utah at $4.53, Idaho at $4.53 and Michigan at $4.52. The ten cheapest run from North Carolina at $3.38, Georgia at $3.58 and Texas and South Carolina at $3.65 each, up to Oklahoma at $3.80.

Colorado and Ohio Gave Back a Spike From the Week Before

Part of the headline drop is a reversal. EIA had Colorado at $4.274 on Oct. 19 and $4.458 on Oct. 26, a jump of 18.4 cents in one week. Ohio went from $4.049 to $4.380, a jump of 33.1 cents. Chicago moved from $4.705 to $4.897 and Cleveland from $4.090 to $4.316 over the same stretch.

The Nov. 2 readings undo most of that. Colorado at $4.068 sits 20.6 cents below its Oct. 19 level, so drivers there have a net saving over two weeks. Ohio at $4.090 is 4.1 cents above where it stood on Oct. 19. Chicago at $4.706 and Cleveland at $4.097 are back within a cent of their Oct. 19 prices.

The national series moved more gently. EIA put the U.S. regular average at $4.284 on Oct. 19, $4.269 on Oct. 26 and $4.153 on Nov. 2, a two-week drop of 13.1 cents. A driver in Chicago or Cleveland who read the weekly drop as fresh savings is, on EIA’s numbers, paying within a cent of the price from two weeks earlier. A driver in Denver, where the price fell from $4.244 on Oct. 19 to $4.016, is paying 22.8 cents less.

What Pulled Prices Down

Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy ties the easing to a drop in oil prices over the past week and to the time of year. A slowdown in travel has cut demand for gas as families return from summer vacation and settle back into work and school commutes.

The oil market moved sharply. West Texas Intermediate futures, the benchmark index for U.S. oil trading, stood at about $96.30 a barrel on Monday after losing nearly 8 percent in a single session. U.S. oil prices were flat on Tuesday morning.

EIA’s weekly supply data, quoted in AAA’s report, points the same way. Gasoline demand fell from 8.98 million barrels a day to 8.38 million, a drop of 600,000 barrels a day or 6.7 percent. Total domestic gasoline supply rose from 205.3 million barrels to 209.2 million, while gasoline production slipped from 9.75 million to 9.24 million barrels a day. Crude oil inventories fell 1.9 million barrels to 410.6 million, which is 4 percent below the five-year average.

What Is Still Expensive

De Haan’s own summary is blunt. “Gas prices and diesel are still very elevated,” he said. AAA data put the national average $1.16, or 38 percent, above where it stood when the Iran war began in February, and much of the rise traces to the oil supply shortage that war set off.

The one-year comparison is steep. A year ago AAA recorded regular at $3.0360, so a gallon now costs $1.11 more, a 37 percent increase. EIA measures the gap at $1.134. On a 15-gallon tank, regular at $4.1493 costs $62.24 where $3.0360 cost $45.54. Regular is 86.7 cents under the record of $5.0165 set on June 14, 2022, and prices were already falling from their October record high before this latest leg down.

Diesel has barely moved. AAA’s national average is $6.2875, down 6.46 cents in a week and 6.79 cents in a month, against 11.68 and 23.14 cents for regular. That is $2.61 above the $3.68 of a year ago, a rise of 71 percent. The record is $6.5276, set on Sept. 22, and the current average sits 24.0 cents under it. EIA lists U.S. diesel at $6.292, down 6.0 cents on the week from $6.352 on Oct. 26. A 15-gallon fill of diesel runs $94.31 against $62.24 for regular.

Regional diesel prices follow the gasoline pattern. California diesel is $8.076 in the EIA survey, the West Coast $7.272 and the Gulf Coast $5.912. Diesel crossed $6 a gallon for the first time in September, and the AAA average now stands at $6.2875.

Midgrade costs $4.6575 and premium $5.0558. E85 is the only grade well under regular, at $3.2313. AAA’s weekly report puts public EV charging at a national average of 41 cents per kilowatt hour, unchanged on the week.

How to Use the Dip at the Pump

Compare stations before you fill, even within a short drive. AAA East Central’s Western Pennsylvania list runs from $4.398 in Brookville to $4.729 in Oil City, a gap of 33.1 cents that costs $4.97 on a 15-gallon fill. AAA’s Sunday figures put Iowa at $4.02 and Illinois at $4.71, and the 69 cent difference between the neighboring states costs $10.35 per fill.

Buy the grade your owner’s manual calls for. Premium costs 90.65 cents more per gallon than regular nationally, which is $13.60 extra on 15 gallons, and midgrade adds 50.82 cents, or $7.62.

Use a low price when you see one. Colorado and Ohio show that a week can swing 18 to 39 cents in either direction, and the Monday drop of nearly 8 percent in oil shows how quickly the benchmark moves.

Use the tools on AAA’s fuel prices site: it lists state averages, a gas cost calculator and EV charging prices. AAA updates its national average daily, and EIA publishes its next weekly reading on Nov. 10, which will show whether the Nov. 2 prices held.

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