{"id":89944,"date":"2026-01-18T06:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T06:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/89944\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T06:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T06:08:07","slug":"local-national-gas-price-drops-below-3-a-gallon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/89944\/","title":{"rendered":"Local, national gas price drops below $3 a gallon"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Short-Term Energy Outlook.<\/p>\n

Locally, the average price of regular gasoline in the Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre\/Hazleton area dropped to $2.99 per gallon \u2014 as of Thursday, according to AAA data \u2014 down from $3.11 last month and $3.28 a year ago.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 2026 Fuel Price Outlook.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect prices to continue to fall and keep a status quo barring any geopolitical event,\u201d said Matt McLain, a petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. \u201cIf nothing happens with Iran, or anything else, we\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere 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\u2019re monitoring very carefully that could create a temporary hiccup into the price fall we\u2019re seeing right now. There are a lot of words being exchanged back and forth (between) the United States, Iran, Russia and China.\u201d<\/p>\n

McClain added the discussions have already prompted some shifts in oil prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the moment President Trump said that \u2018help is on the way,\u2019 that set crude oil prices up 3% and another 1% the following day,\u201d he said \u2014 a reference to Trump\u2019s outreach to protesting Iranians.<\/p>\n

Motorists are projected to spend $11 billion less on gasoline throughout the country in 2026, compared to last year, per the GasBuddy outlook.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s projections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d McClain said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Lower diesel prices are especially significant for trucking, agriculture and industrial sectors, helping ease transportation costs across the economy, company officials said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

McClain believes the lower prices may lead more people to hit the road for their travels throughout the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe price point of gasoline will certainly be an encouragement in order to be able to travel \u2014 maybe even to grandma\u2019s house over the river and through the woods \u2014 a little more often,\u201d he said. \u201cUnless 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DriversDrivers at the pump at the Sheetz on 500 Mount Pleasant Dr. in Scranton on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
\n\"TheThe Sheetz on 500 Mount Pleasant Dr. in Scranton on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
\n\"DunmoreDunmore 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)
\n\"TheThe sign advertising gas prices at the Sheetz on 500 Mount Pleasant Dr. in Scranton on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
\n\"RegularRegular unleaded gasoline was selling for $2.99 a gallon at Pop Pop\u2019s Mini Mart in the Peckville section of Blakely on Thursday, Jan. 15. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE\/STAFF PHOTO)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the average price of regular gasoline in the Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre\/Hazleton metro area dipped under $3 a gallon, industry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[60,201,182,803,139,28,178,180,179,289,181,2155,4491],"class_list":["post-89944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-business","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-luzerne-county","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-things-to-do","tag-top-stories-stt","tag-transportation","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}