Gas prices hit 3-year low in Philadelphia region, experts say. But what's behind the drop?
CLAYMONT, Del. (CBS) — There were some smiles on the faces of people pumping gas at the Shell station on Naamans Road in Claymont, Delaware on Friday. Gas there, and across the street at Wawa, sat at $2.95 for a gallon of regular.
"It's been a while since we got anywhere near $3," said Rich Southerland of Philadelphia.
"With inflation and high prices in other places, it's good to see something go down," said Timothy Samuels of Brookhaven.
According to AAA, prices at the pump in Delaware have fallen $0.70/gal from this time last year, and experts with GasBuddy say they're the lowest we've seen since 2021 when few people were driving due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lower prices are good news for people like Lorenzo, who is always driving for work.
"I'm here every day, three times a day sometimes," said Lorenzo, who lives around the corner from the Shell station. "I gotta have my tank full. So the money I make, it goes into gas!"
But it's not just locals taking advantage of the lowered prices. CBS News Philadelphia spotted dozens of Pennsylvania plates pulling up to the pumps, looking to save. A manager with the Shell station says it's no surprise, seeing as they sit just about a mile from the Delaware County line.
"We have so many customers right now from Pennsylvania. We are next to 95, close to it, and then cheaper gas," said Hetal Patel.
"I will come from Pennsylvania to Delaware to get these low prices," said Tony Waters, who lives in Chester.
Pennsylvania gas prices are also falling. The Philly five-county area has seen a $0.70/gal drop over the last year as well, according to AAA. But those prices are still about $0.30/gal higher than Delaware.
So what's causing prices to plummet?
With a presidential election less than two months away, there are always rumblings that politics plays a role. But Patrick De Haan with GasBuddy says lawmakers have virtually no sway when it comes to what you pay at the pump.
"Most Americans probably vastly overstate the amount of weight politicians can have on gas prices, either positively or negatively," said De Haan. "This is a global commodity. What's happening here in the U.S. is not just happening in the U.S. It's happening in other countries where there are not presidential elections."
Instead, De Haan says it's more mundane reasons behind falling prices. For starters, Americans just drive less as we move into fall and winter. That drives down demand for gas, which pushes prices lower.
De Haan says stations are also switching over the cheaper, winter blends for gasoline, and that things have stabilized since Russia's invasion of Ukraine a few years ago sent oil prices surging.
But De Haan also says the global economy factors into prices as well.
"Drop in oil prices because of a slowdown in the global economy, weaker gasoline demand because of the seasons changing, and cheaper winter gasoline. It's those three ingredients that have led prices to fall," said De Haan.
De Haan believes we will continue to see gas prices drop through the fall and winter, likely bottoming out sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Though he does warn, escalations in the Middle East or a large hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico could upend things.
As for the 2024 election, De Haan says no matter who wins the race, he expects gas prices to trend back up in the spring as more Americans hit the road.