For the first time since 2020, the annual average price of gas is projected to fall below $3 a gallon in 2026, the price-tracking group GasBuddy said in a new report Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At $2.97, GasBuddy\u2019s projected average for the year is 13 cents below the average price per gallon nationwide in 2025, which was $3.10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe world has spent years recovering from the economic whiplash of the pandemic and the shock of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, but the situation has been improving quietly since 2022,\u201d Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy\u2019s head of petroleum analysis, said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GasBuddy calculated the average by determining a monthly price range, averaging that and then taking the average of all 12 months. Full results were included in the group\u2019s 2026 fuel price outlook report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last year that average annual gas prices nationwide were as low as GasBuddy projects for this year was 2020, when the Covid pandemic kept millions of Americans working from home and schools largely virtual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That year, the average price of unleaded gas nationwide was $2.17 per gallon, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GasBuddy also projects that U.S. households will spend less overall for gas, on average, this year than they did in the year that just ended. At $2,083, the annual projection is well below 2022\u2019s average household gas price of $2,715.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a return to ultra-cheap fuel, but for the first time in a long time, the wind is clearly behind drivers\u2019 backs,\u201d De Haan said. \u201cIf the market avoids major surprises, sustained averages below $3 per gallon could become commonplace in the year ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As of Tuesday, the average price of gas nationwide was $2.79 per gallon, according to GasBuddy\u2019s real-time measure. This is slightly below the group\u2019s projection for January\u2019s average fuel prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Average nationwide diesel prices, on the other hand, are still projected to remain above the $3 per gallon mark this year. The group projects an average of $3.55 for diesel over the year, only slightly less than last year\u2019s nationwide average of $3.62 per gallon, GasBuddy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Within the projected decline in year-over-year prices, there will still be variability owing to factors \u201ctied to seasonal demand, refinery maintenance, hurricane season and ongoing geopolitical risks,\u201d GasBuddy wrote in the release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The recent U.S. attack on Venezuela, which has massive reserves of crude oil, exemplifies the kind of geopolitical risk factors that could impact gas prices later in the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After capturing Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife and bringing them to the United States to face trial, President Donald Trump said U.S. oil companies would invest billions in rebuilding Venezuela\u2019s crumbling oil infrastructure in order to tap the country\u2019s reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The events unfolding in Venezuela won\u2019t immediately change anything for consumers at the pump, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA lot of Americans may think there\u2019s going to be some sort of overnight or even weekly or monthly improvement in Venezuela\u2019s oil output, but this is really a clock that\u2019s going to tick much slower,” De Haan told NBC News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGas prices almost always start going up in the spring,” he added. “What\u2019s happening in Venezuela is not going to stop that seasonal trend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n