Business & Tech

Gas Prices Down, But for How Long?

The price to fill up your vehicle is likely to hover around $3.40 a gallon through Thanksgiving, AAA reports.

Motorists may have a little more to be thankful for as we inch closer to Thanksgiving, but don't hold your breath.

The national average price of regular unleaded dropped to an average of $3.41 a gallon on Sunday, a 4-cent decline from a week ago, according to the latest AAA survey. At the same time, the average price to fill up in Maryland was $3.36 a gallon, also down 4 cents from a week ago, the survey reported.

But those prices represent a nearly 60-cent increase from a year ago, AAA reports.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

While the price for regular unleaded should remain around $3.40 a gallon at least through Thanksgiving, the price of crude oil jumped again last week to close at $94.26 a barrel on Friday. That marks five straight weeks of increases as crude went for $93.32 a barrel a week ago. 

AAA Mid-Atlantic spokeswoman Ragina C. Averella released the following statement:

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, chances are, the cost of gasoline will be much higher this holiday than it was last year, when the average price was $2.87 a gallon across the nation at the beginning of that very busy travel week.

The big question mark is whether much higher prices will impact holiday travel plans. Last Thanksgiving, gasoline prices were almost a quarter—24 cents—higher than they were at  Thanksgiving 2009. This year they could average, 50 cents higher than last year’s price.

Is that a deal-breaker? That remains to be seen. It is likely that neither the economy nor the cost of gas will have an outsized impact on the Thanksgiving travel plans of most Americans.

Here are the lowest gas prices in the Essex-Middle River area, according to MarylandGasPrices.com:

Gas Station Address Price of Regular Unleaded Gulf 9526 Pulaski Highway $3.26 100 Back River Neck Road $3.29 1600 Eastern Blvd. $3.29 35 Back River Neck Road $3.29 101 Back River Neck Road $3.29

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Essex-Middle River