The average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. dipped below $4 a gallon for the first time in months, AAA reported Thursday. Gas prices rose to a nominal record high of $5.01 a gallon in mid-June, but have been steadily dropping since then, to Thursday's national average of $3.99 a gallon.
"It's sort of like a very simple roller coaster ride because we went up, and now we're coming down," AAA spokesman Andrew Gross told USA Today. "When things kind of go up really fast, they also tend to kind of fall really fast." He said the biggest factor in the price slide is the dropping price of crude oil, but there has also been less demand for gas and "a pretty good little band aid" from President Biden's withdrawals from the strategic petroleum reserve.
The highest average gas prices are in Hawaii, at $5.39 a gallon, AAA said, while the cheapest gas is in Texas, where the average price for a gallon of regular is $3.49. All in all, gas is under $4 in 26 states. The slide in gas prices is one big reason overall consumer prices were flat in July and annual inflation was lower than in June, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Wednesday.