Americans are hitting the road for the Fourth of July holiday, undeterred by high gasoline prices. The national average price of gasoline stood at $3.79 per gallon on Thursday, up 63 cents from last year’s average, according to GasBuddy.
Travel Plans Unchanged
Motorist group AAA expects a record 72.2 million people to travel at least 50 miles from home around the US Independence Day holiday, surpassing last year’s record of 71.8 million travelers. Some 61.4 million people will drive, while nearly 5.85 million are forecast to fly and 4.93 million are expected to travel by bus, train, or cruise ship.
“I think when it comes to summer holidays Americans will go through with their plans. … It’s the ‘I have had something planned’ mindset and ‘I am not changing it, I’ll figure it out next week’,” said Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst at Dow Jones Energy.
Gasoline Prices and Supply
Gasoline prices could remain elevated if fuel balances continue to tighten across key US markets as stock levels in the US Gulf Coast remain well below normal. Supply disruption from unplanned refinery outages, including in Russia and Mexico, and the approaching Atlantic hurricane season could also reverse recent price declines.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
