As the average price of regular gasoline in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton metro area dipped under $3 a gallon, industry experts predict a similar trend across the country in 2026.
GasBuddy, an app-based fuel savings service, projects the average price of gasoline in the United States will be $2.97 per gallon throughout the year, down 13 cents from 2025, marking the lowest yearly average since 2020. It would also represent the fourth straight yearly decline, company officials said.
Additionally, the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects oil prices will decline in 2026, as global oil production exceeds global demand, causing oil inventories to rise, officials said.
The EIA forecasts the Brent crude oil price will average $56 per barrel in 2026, 19% less than in 2025, then average $54 per barrel in 2027, according to the organization’s Short-Term Energy Outlook.
Locally, the average price of regular gasoline in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton area dropped to $2.99 per gallon — as of Thursday, according to AAA data — down from $3.11 last month and $3.28 a year ago.
Statewide, the average price dipped to $3.01, as of Thursday, down from $3.16 last month and $3.31 last year, according to AAA.
Nationally, the average gasoline price was $2.84 a gallon, as of Thursday, down from $2.91 last month and $3.09 last year, per AAA data.
Gas prices may briefly increase back to the $3.20s during the switch to summer gasoline and routine refinery maintenance, but they are likely to fall again after June, with December forecast to average $2.83, according to GasBuddy’s 2026 Fuel Price Outlook.
“We expect prices to continue to fall and keep a status quo barring any geopolitical event,” said Matt McLain, a petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. “If nothing happens with Iran, or anything else, we’re expecting prices to slowly continue falling over the next couple months and then start their annual climb back up as we move toward reformulated gasoline for the springtime.
“There are quite a few things in this world that could go wrong, that could impact oil prices, and one of them, obviously, being Iran, as well as the Middle East. These are the things we’re monitoring very carefully that could create a temporary hiccup into the price fall we’re seeing right now. There are a lot of words being exchanged back and forth (between) the United States, Iran, Russia and China.”
McClain added the discussions have already prompted some shifts in oil prices.
“With the moment President Trump said that ‘help is on the way,’ that set crude oil prices up 3% and another 1% the following day,” he said — a reference to Trump’s outreach to protesting Iranians.
Motorists are projected to spend $11 billion less on gasoline throughout the country in 2026, compared to last year, per the GasBuddy outlook.
However, Pennsylvania is expected to be the ninth-most-expensive state for gasoline, on average, throughout 2026 with an average price of $3.08 to $3.37, according to GasBuddy’s projections.
“The thing that actually dramatically impacts prices the most are state gas taxes, and Pennsylvania does have a little bit higher gas tax than some of the other states,” McClain said.
Diesel prices are forecast to remain elevated relative to gasoline but continue easing from recent peaks, averaging $3.55 per gallon nationally for the year, per the GasBuddy outlook.
Lower diesel prices are especially significant for trucking, agriculture and industrial sectors, helping ease transportation costs across the economy, company officials said.
The average diesel price for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton metro area was $3.97 per gallon, as of Thursday, down from $4.06 a month ago, according to AAA data.
McClain believes the lower prices may lead more people to hit the road for their travels throughout the year.
“The price point of gasoline will certainly be an encouragement in order to be able to travel — maybe even to grandma’s house over the river and through the woods — a little more often,” he said. “Unless there is some sort of an unforeseen circumstance lingering out there in our future that could dramatically impact oil prices, the gas price will certainly be an enticement.”
Drivers at the pump at the Sheetz on 500 Mount Pleasant Dr. in Scranton on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The Sheetz on 500 Mount Pleasant Dr. in Scranton on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Dunmore resident Susan Pettinato fills up her vehicle at the Sheetz on 500 Mount Pleasant Dr. in Scranton on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The sign advertising gas prices at the Sheetz on 500 Mount Pleasant Dr. in Scranton on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Regular unleaded gasoline was selling for $2.99 a gallon at Pop Pop’s Mini Mart in the Peckville section of Blakely on Thursday, Jan. 15. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)