Gasoline costs the least since July but stays nearly a dollar above a year earlier

The average price of regular gasoline in the US fell to $3.995 a gallon in the week of November 9, the first reading below $4 since mid-July, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly survey released on Tuesday. The price was 15.8 cents lower than a week earlier.

Sixteen weeks above $4, and a year-earlier price near $3

The EIA's weekly series last showed a national average under $4 in the week of July 13, at $3.855, according to the agency's price history. From the week of July 20 the average stayed above that mark for 16 weeks, reaching $4.478 in the week of September 21. The year's highest weekly reading was $4.500, in the week of May 11.

The latest price is 50.5 cents, or 11.2%, below that May peak. It is still 93.9 cents above the $3.056 recorded a year earlier, a difference of 30.7%. For a driver filling a 15-gallon tank, that gap works out to about $14.09 per fill-up compared with November 2025.

The interior led the slide, the West Coast stayed above $5

The decline was widest away from the coasts. In the Rocky Mountain region the average fell 26.7 cents in the week to $3.946, and in the Midwest it fell 23.4 cents to $3.868, the EIA said. Among the states the agency tracks, Colorado and Ohio each fell 32.2 cents, to $3.746 and $3.768.

The West Coast remained the most expensive region at $5.110 a gallon, and California averaged $5.562. The Gulf Coast was the cheapest at $3.481, which leaves a gap of $1.629 between the two regions.

Why the October price index still showed gasoline rising

The weekly pump price and the official inflation figures do not move in step. In the consumer price index for October, released on Tuesday, the gasoline index rose 1.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis, while before seasonal adjustment gasoline prices fell 0.7% in the month, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Seasonal adjustment removes the price changes that usually happen at that time of year.

Over the 12 months through October, the gasoline index was up 37.4%, not seasonally adjusted, the BLS data show. Overall consumer prices rose 0.4% in October on a seasonally adjusted basis, after 0.6% in September.

Diesel and the agency's outlook point the other way

Diesel, which moves freight and feeds into the price of delivered goods, fell 16.5 cents in the week to $6.127 a gallon, but that is $2.290 more than a year earlier, the EIA said.

In its Short-Term Energy Outlook, published on November 10, the EIA expects retail gasoline to average $3.89 a gallon in 2026 and $3.73 in 2027. The 2027 figure is up from the $3.56 the agency forecast a month earlier. "We now assume global petroleum product markets will face continued supply constraints through the end of 2027," the agency wrote, and it raised its 2027 diesel forecast by 12% to $5.03 a gallon. The next weekly price survey is due on November 17.

A welcome dip that does not yet restore last year's budget

We think the drop below $4 is real relief, but we would not read it as a return to normal. A fill-up still costs about $14 more than a year earlier, and diesel, which reaches grocery shelves through freight costs, remains more than $2 a gallon above November 2025.

The opportunity is that an 11.2% fall from the May peak frees some room in tight monthly budgets heading into the holiday driving season. The threat is that the EIA itself has raised its forecast for 2027 and assumes supply constraints persist, so this may be a lull rather than a trend. We would weigh the coming weekly readings and the diesel price more than any single week's drop, and our view would change if diesel starts falling as quickly as gasoline.

The view in this final section is FinanceInTime's editorial opinion, for information only. It is not investment, tax, legal or other advice, and it does not take your circumstances into account. Forecasts are uncertain and past results do not guarantee future ones.