It’s coming soon: Gasoline cheaper than $4 a gallon

In neighboring Danville and Pittsylvania County, $3.99 gas prices are already popping up.

After reaching a national record of $5 a gallon, prices have dropped for 34 straight days.

In Virginia, prices were averaging about $4.29 per gallon earlier this week, a 16 cent drop in just seven days, according to GasBuddy.

While welcome relief, it’s still about $1.32 higher than a year ago.

Halifax County is averaging about $4.12 per gallon.

“We’ve seen the national average price of gasoline decline for a fifth straight week, with the pace of recent declines accelerating to some of the most significant we’ve seen in years,” said Patrick De Haan, a spokesperson for GasBuddy. “This trend is likely to reach a sixth straight week, with prices likely to fall again this week.”

In fact, unless there’s a major disruption — like a hurricane, for example — De Haan believes the national average will drop below $4 a gallon by the middle of August.

There’s a two-fold reason for the downward truck.

Crude oil prices have descended into the mid-90s, compared to about $110 two weeks ago, the auto club AAA reported.

Those global prices vastly determine the price Americans pay at the pump.

Another issue is the basic principles of supply and demand. Even amid the summer driving season, there’s a decrease in the demand for gas.

“Global economic headwinds are pushing oil prices lower and less expensive oil leads to lower pump prices,” Andrew Gross, a AAA spokesperson, said this week. “And here at home, people are fueling up less, despite this being the height of the traditional summer driving season.”

Those factors are leading to the recent drop.

But prices are still higher now than any July on record. The most comparable season was in 2013 when the national prices was $3.67.

In 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic virtually halted travel across the nation, pump prices were a refreshing $2.01 a gallon.

The national average price of diesel has declined 10.8 cents in the last week and stands at $5.54 per gallon, GasBuddy reports. That’s still high, and a factor in rising prices for things like groceries and any supplies delivered via truck.

“So far, we’ve seen the national average drop for 34 straight days, with over 25,000 stations now back at $3.99 per gallon or less, and thousands more stations will join this week,” De Haan said.

“In addition, we will see several states fall back under an average of $4, the majority being in the south, but that could spread to more states in the weeks ahead.”