SLO County drivers finally get some relief at the pump as gas prices fall

Wholesale gasoline prices are falling across the U.S. and in California as oil prices ease and demand has declined to its lowest level in a year, according to the Energy Information Agency.

That’s good news for drivers in San Luis Obispo County, where prices dropped 23 cents as of Thursday compared to a few days ago, according to AAA, which posts average prices daily.

The price of oil dropped from $95 a barrel on Sept. 27 to $82 a barrel Thursday morning, according to market website Trading Economics.

U.S. gasoline futures are down 60 cents from mid-September.

The national average price has now fallen to $3.76 a gallon, according to AAA, down 5 cents from a less than a month ago.

The average price in California now stands at $5.93, according to AAA, which is below SLO County’s average of $6.10.

“Drivers are finally seeing some relief at the pump as the seasonal swoon picks up momentum,” said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson. “At least one state has locations selling gas below $3 a gallon, and we should begin to see more states join in over the next few weeks.”

Meanwhile, a GasBuddy analyst predicts gas prices will drop drastically in California over the next few months, perhaps below $5 per gallon.

“With California allowing the transition to winter gasoline to begin immediately, easing supply concerns, we’re likely to see nearly the entire country see gasoline prices trend lower in the week ahead,” Patrick De Haan told the media.

“You could say Christmas is coming early,” he added.

Despite the drop, oil analyst Tom Kloza said in a social media post that gasoline marketers are doing just fine.

“Gasoline marketers today find an average gross margin of nearly 62 cents/gallon ranging from 33.1 cents/gallon in Alabama to $1.48/gallon in California. It’s about twice the typical profit margin seen before 2022. ...”

John Lindt is the editor of the news site Sierra2theSea.net.