Gas prices still drifting lower
But prices nationally are still up 20% on the year thanks to $90-plus crude oil prices. And that's how OPEC likes it.
The good news is that gas prices nationally have come down in 12 of the last 14 days.
But motorists understandably still feel beleaguered because the price of crude oil is still above $90 a barrel, and crude represents more than half the cost of a gallon of fuel.
Until — and if — the crude piece of gasoline prices comes down, the drift will be modest at best. That's because members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) keeps pulling production off the world markets.
OPEC calls its current policy "stabilization." You can call it anything you want.
The national average retail price of gasoline on Sunday was $3.815 a gallon, down from $3.823 on Saturday, according to American Automobile Association data.
A modest dip offset by a big runup
The price is down 6.6 cents, or 1.7%, from a near-term peak of $3.881 on Sept. 18. Here's the bad news. Nationally, the gasoline price is up 19.4% year-to-date, AAA reports.
Light sweet crude finished last week at $90.79 a barrel in New York trading, down 92 cents from Thursday's close and down from Wednesday's $93.68. The price was up 8.6% for September and 13.1% for the year.
The price was up 39 cents a barrel to $91.17 in early Monday trading.
OPEC members will meet in a video meeting on Wednesday, and no one expects much change in their production policy.
Saudi Arabia and Russia announced Sept. 5 they were taking 1.3 million barrels per day of crude off the global market through the end of 2023. The price of light sweet crude jumped up to as high as $95.03 on Wednesday before slipping Thursday and Friday.
Related: Airline ticket prices taking a fall for autumn
AAA believes the price you pay at the pump should be lower, were it not for Saudi Arabia's and Russia's production cuts. Gasoline prices typically fall in the last four months of the year. Last year, the decline was 16.82%, bringing the national average price down to $3.195.
High fuel prices act as a tax on the economy and contribute to consumer and business stress.
California has the highest statewide price, $6.063 a gallon, down from $6.076 a week ago. Refinery breakdowns and other problems have exacerbated the pricing environment and pushed prices higher in many western states. The highest California price was in rural Mono County at $6.716.
Louisiana had the lowest statewide price at $3.323 a gallon, down 1.1% from a week ago. The lowest price was in Ouachita Parish at $3.133. Ouachita Parish is in the far northeast corner of the state.
High gasoline prices are good news for companies building electric vehicles, especially Tesla (TSLA) - Get Free Report, Ford Motor (F) - Get Free Report, General Motors (GM) - Get Free Report and the Chrysler business of global automaker Stellantis (STLA) - Get Free Report.
The United Auto Workers have struck numerous plants and other facilities of the latter three as they work to win a new contract.
Negotiations continued Sunday with no resolution coming into focus.
Shares of the four companies were little changed on Friday and were modestly lower in September.
Oil stocks were higher on the month. Chevron (CVX) - Get Free Report was up 4.7%. ExxonMobil (XOM) - Get Free Report added 5.8%. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) - Get Free Report was up 1.7%. The ETF holds a basket of energy stocks.
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