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Posted on 11/12/2026 6:26:13 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Drivers are starting to see some relief from high fuel prices. For the first time in months, the average price of a gallon of gasoline has dipped below $4, according to AAA.
The price crossed below the $4 threshold on Tuesday, and is currently down to a national average of $3.94 for a gallon of regular. Prices have dipped about 40 cents over the past month, with much of that decline happening in the past two weeks.
"Many will assume the election had something to do with it, but that's a myth," Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, wrote in his industry newsletter.
Instead, he continued, gasoline prices are dropping for a more banal reason: "For now, it's the seasonal shift, not politics, driving the relief at the pump."
Gas prices often ease in the fall.
One reason: It's no longer summer, which is the peak season for gas. (Fewer people drive in colder weather, AAA points out.) With less demand, there's a touch more gas on the market.
Refineries also finish their annual maintenance by late fall. So that adds a bit more gas to go around.
And the blend of gasoline that's on the market gets cheaper.
Refineries make two types of gasoline every year: summer and winter blends. The summer blend produces less smog, because it evaporates less quickly in the heat; the winter blend helps engines start up in freezing weather, and uses a bit more butane, which helps lower its cost.
(Normally, the switch happens around September 15. This year, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy said the switch would happen on September 1, citing gasoline prices that have been driven up by the war in Iran.)
But none of those are the biggest reason why gas prices are falling, says Jorge León, head of geopolitics at the research group Rystad Energy. The main driver is the falling price of Brent crude oil, which is now down to about $90 a barrel, and which is what refineries need to make gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
That price is falling because there's a bit more oil coming out of the Middle East via pipelines, and because market traders have rejoiced at the intensifying diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and Iran.
That progress could easily be reversed if the war escalates, León wrote in an email to NPR. "President Trump may see further military action as a way to regain negotiating leverage before Democrats take control of Congress in January. If we see renewed escalation, much of last week's oil price decline could quickly reverse," he wrote. The same would be true for gas prices.
Congressional Democrats have expressed their support for ending the war in Iran. While they have limited power to do that, they do control the power of the purse, and can withhold additional war funding or hold back confirmations of key officials.
For now, if the price of Brent crude keeps falling, so could prices at the pump. "However, this does not mean a complete 'normalization,' a return to the price levels we had before this conflict started," Jaime Brito, executive director of refining and oil markets for Dow Jones Energy, wrote in an email to NPR.
To get back to pre-Iran war gas prices, the whole oil supply chain would have to recover. Ships that have been running long alternative routes to avoid the Strait of Hormuz would have to return to their points of origin, then resume their normal routes, taking crude oil to refineries. Those refineries would have to pump out enough fuel to alleviate global demand — and depleted stockpiles. The whole process could take months after a lasting peace deal.
"Coming back to those levels will require a return to normal crude production, shipping and refining of the entire global supply chain," Brito continued.
And while $4 a gallon may seem like a bargain these days, in an update on its website, AAA said that gasoline prices are still the highest they've ever been at this time of year.
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Too late.
I said it Tuesday night when the results came in: there was rejoicing in three places, the dnc hq, china and iran.
I won’t be happy until gas is $2 a gallon again, but I also know that ship has sailed long ago….
Our gas has dropped a full 50 cents in one week. Too bad I filled up before the decrease.
The damage has been done. Might as well finish the job.
I get tired of their mouthpieces going on and on about the war is over, while they continue to attack shipping.
Mohsen Rezaei needs to eat a GBU-43.
Because the globalists no longer need high gas prices to help install their puppets.
It is not too late for a little “buyer’s remorse” on the part of voters who so hastily concluded that the high prices were “forever”. Of course, that buys nothing at all until the 2028 elections.
Now, if the price of Diesel fuel may be reduced commensurately, THAT would be real progress.
Build the cuffing refineries. Like building the Manhattan Project, on a crash basis. and probably with about as much secrecy, to keep it below the radar of those sharp-eyed little trolls who espouse the “Green Revolution”.
Bingo, we have a winner.
Red states will have 2 something a gallon in the next year. How much cheaper do you want it?
I’m in Illinois. It’s been a lot of years since we’ve seen $2 gas. We have some of the highest taxes on gasoline in the country.
One big reason that doesn’t get a lot of attention is that winter fuel blends — which are cheaper because they don’t require as many additives — are introduced in most metro areas around November 1st.
Per AI, sourced to the Tax Foundation...
“As of July 2026, 49 U.S. states have a state gasoline tax higher than the federal gasoline tax.”
We will not vote-with-our-feet our way out of this.
Gas is $2.69 per gallon in parts of Georgia. We paid $3.29 per gallon on Tuesday. It’s amazing that it started dropping immediately after the election. I can’t help but think there was some type of deliberate manipulation.
Yep. Mission accomplished.
Suddenly?
There was deliberate manipulation.
Incidentally, it’s the same reason that the senate didn’t pass ANYTHING helpful over the last 2 years. Even the weak house pushed some 50 bills to the Senate where they sat on them.
It was deliberate - they want to kill the United States. Treasonous b*st*rds.
Hmmm.
Well, it might be here, but for some reason it is still well over $4 at my favorite station. Others here have come down a bit; don’t know yet why mine hasn’t.
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