Gas Prices Steady Heading into Holiday Weekend

As Americans gear up for the start of the summer driving season with Memorial Day weekend, the nation’s average price of gasoline is unchanged from a week ago at $3.51 per gallon. The national average diesel price fell 3.2 cents last week and stands at $3.94 per gallon. GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan says, “We’ve seen more states see prices climb than fall, which has been driven by oil’s volatility as debt ceiling discussions are ongoing.” De Haan expects prices to rise slightly this week, especially if there are positive developments in the debt ceiling discussions. With continued discussions about reaching a bipartisan agreement to raise the nation’s debt limit, the price of oil has remained somewhat volatile, given the economic repercussions that come with the situation. U.S. retail gasoline demand saw a rise of 1.1 percent last week, and the most common U.S. gas price was 3.39 per gallon, up ten cents from last week.