AAA Texas: Statewide average gas price drops below $3 Thanksgiving travel week

There’s some good news for the millions of Texans expected to travel this Thanksgiving holiday.

The statewide average gas price for unleaded fuel in Texas has dropped below $3 per gallon for the first time since January, AAA Texas says.

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According to AAA Texas Holiday Gas Watch, that average is now $2.97 per gallon, which is 13 cents less than Tuesday last week and four cents less than one year ago.

The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel dropped 12 cents from one week ago, but is still higher than Texas at $3.64, according to AAA Texas. The company says the national average is also 23 cents more than it was one year ago.

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What’s causing the drop in prices? According to AAA Texas, market analysts attribute it to sinking oil prices, with West Texas Intermediate crude currently near or below $80 a barrel for the first time since the beginning of 2022. 

FILE PHOTO. (Photo by Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)

Where is the cheapest and most expensive gas in Texas?

According to AAA Texas, of the major metropolitan areas surveyed in the state, drivers in Midland are paying the most on average at $3.19 per gallon while drivers in McAllen are paying the least at $2.77 per gallon.

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For a gallon of regular unleaded fuel, AAA’s gas price map shows drivers on Tuesday paying an average of $2.976 in the Houston area, $2.985 in the Austin-San Marcos area, $2.893 in the Dallas area, and $2.908 in the Fort Worth-Arlington area.

The map also shows that Texas had the lowest average in the country on Tuesday.