Gas price heading toward $3 a gallon mark

The average price for a gallon of gas is headed to the $3 mark with the Tuesday price, one-tenth of a cent above $3.

As of Tuesday, the average price at the pump had fallen below $3 in Sussex County, with motorists paying a bt more elsewhere. Gasoline was selling in a few locations at around $2.90 a gallon, with the lowest price often requiring cash, or in the case of Sam’s, Costco and BJ’s, a membership.

Gas prices in Delaware have briefly dropped to the $3 a gallon range this year, only to increase along with the price of crude oil.

The main reason is a weaker market for crude for oil, which is struggling to stay above $70 per barrel. As of Tuesday, the price was in the $69 range. The falling price comes a week after OPEC+ announced voluntary production cuts of about two million barrels daily. That did not halt the drop in crude prices, which at one point, had been in the $80 a barrel range.

“Historically, crude oil tends to drop nearly 30 percent from late September into early winter,” said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson. “More than half of all US fuel locations have gasoline below $3 per gallon. By the end of the year, the national average may dip that low as well.”

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration, gas demand increased slightly from 8.21 to 8.47 million barrels a day last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks increased significantly by 5.4 million barrels to 223.6 million barrels.

With low gas demand, supply growth has helped push pump prices lower. If oil prices remain low, drivers can expect pump prices to do the same during the holiday season.

Delaware gas prices

Log on to AAA’s gas price finder to check out stations in your neighborhood.