(NewsNation) — Surging oil costs are driving up gas prices, but drivers could see those costs ease up heading into the fall.
The national average for a gallon of gasoline rose by five cents to about $3.85 since last week, according to AAA. Costs, however, have been tempered by a dip in demand typical for this time of year, AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said in a release.
“The slide in people fueling up is typical, with schools back in session, the days getting shorter, and the weather less pleasant,” Gross said. “But the usual decline in pump prices is being stymied for now by these high oil costs.”
United States gasoline demand is “impressively weak,” Patrick De Haan, head of GasBuddy’s petroleum analysis, said on X, formerly Twitter.
“With talk around CPI and gas prices, the national average is now about 12c/gal higher than a year ago,” De Haan wrote. “While current prices should start to moderate, I’m not sure they’ll catch up to where they were last Sept, and thus could lead September’s CPI to also print a YOY rise.”
According to AAA, today’s national average is in line with last month’s but 15 cents more than this time last year.
“However, we will likely see gas prices swing back to disinflation for October, when gas prices last year took a big jump up due the energy crunch happening overseas ahead of winter,” De Haan wrote.