AAA Auto Club said motorists celebrating the unofficial kick-off to summer will be greeted with the most expensive Memorial Day weekend gas prices since 2014.
The national average gas price stabilized after the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack, AAA stated, but prices likely will fluctuate this weekend. The national gas price average declined a penny to $3.03, AAA stated, the first decrease in two weeks.
Although the average price was barely cheaper from the previous week, the average is 17 cents more than the same week in April 2021 and $1.12 more expensive than the same week in May 2020.
“AAA expects 37 million Americans to travel, mostly by car and plane, for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. That is a 60% increase over last year’s holiday and a strong indication that summer travel is going to be largely popular,” AAA spokesperson Jeanette McGee said. “With the increase in travel demand, gas prices are going to be expensive no matter where you fill up, so plan ahead.”
Although the Colonial Pipeline is back in operation and deliveries are in progress, some stations in the southeast continue to experience supply strain. This is likely to extend into the weekend.
“Holiday road trippers may come across some gas stations with low fuel supply in popular travel destinations, like beaches, mountains or national parks,” McGee said. “However, markets are not expected to be fuel-less, like we saw in the wake of the pipeline shutdown.”
