Gas Prices Down In WA As Christmas Nears

SEATTLE — Washington drivers are seeing relief at the pump as gas prices fall to an average of about $4.18 for a gallon of regular gas. While that average is higher than all but California and Nevada, and 31 cents higher than the same time last year, prices are down more than 60 cents since last month.

Nationally, the average price for a gallon of regular gas Thursday was $3.33, down a penny from $3.34 last year, according to the AAA auto club, which tracks gas price changes and provides daily updates.

The Biden administration has been drawing down the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve since spring as part of its strategy to lower gas prices, which were already straining Americans’ budgets when they were driven up further by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Americans are paying about a buck and a quarter less than they were in June, when the average price for a gallon of gas nationally was about $5.

The price at the pump reflects decreased demand, which drove oil prices lower.

Prices for E85 — an 85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline blend used in flexible fuel vehicles — are down even more, to an average of $2.73 a gallon, compared to $3.11 a year ago.

Prices for other fuels remain higher than they were a year ago. Diesel fuel, especially, is painfully expensive, averaging $5 on average, compared with $3.11 a gallon this time last year. In Washington, diesel drivers are paying $5.41 per gallon, up from $3.88 last December.

Prices for mid-grade and premium gasoline are also higher than they were a year ago. The national average for mid-grade fuel was about $3.79 a gallon, compared to $3.71 a year ago; premium fuel prices are about 12 cents a gallon higher than they were a year ago, averaging $4.10 a gallon Thursday.

A gallon of mid-grade gasoline costs an average of $4.48 in Washington, and a gallon of premium runs $4.65. Drivers in the greater Seattle area are paying more than those commuting elsewhere in the state.

Average gas prices around Seattle, Bellevue and Everett:

Regular grade

• Current average: $4.45 per gallon
• Month ago average: $5.03 per gallon
• Year ago average: $4.03 per gallon

Gas prices are still higher than they have been in the past several years. President Joe Biden has criticized energy companies such as Exxon, Mobil and Chevron for record-breaking quarterly profits. Global oil and gas producers’ net income is expected to double this year to an “unprecedented” $4 trillion, according to an International Energy Agency report.

In October, just days before the midterm elections, Biden called on Congress to levy tax penalties against oil companies if they don’t invest some of their profits in lowering prices at the pump.

“It’s time for these companies to stop war profiteering, meet their responsibilities in this country and give the American people a break and still do very well,” he said.

The falling prices give Americans a little more flexibility to fight inflation, but doesn’t necessarily provide much breathing room for the Federal Reserve to hold off on interest rate hikes to tame inflation.

“It’s good for households, and it’s good for affordability,” Beth Ann Bovino, the U.S. chief economist at the financial analysis firm S&P Global, told The New York Times. “But at the same time the easing up of pricing pressure at the gas pump leaves more money to spend elsewhere, that might give a near-term boost to inflation, which the Fed would have to fight.”