A customer holds a fuel nozzle at a Shell gas station in Hercules, California, U.S., on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. President Joe Biden called on Congress to suspend the federal gasoline tax, a largely symbolic move by an embattled president running out of options to ease pump prices weighing on his party's political prospects. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg The price drop is a welcome respite for consumers after fuel costs earlier this summer forced many to forgo driving vacations and change their lifestyles. President Biden has staked much of his political capital to bringing down energy costs, ordering the release of millions of barrels of crude from the nation’s strategic reserves and rallying other nations to do so.
See more: Gasoline price drop blunts GOP weapon ahead of midterms
Prices have fallen along with those of crude oil, the major component to the cost of gasoline. A relatively slow summer of fuel consumption and wider recession fears contributed to the decline as did the release of as much as 1 million barrels per day of oil from US emergency reserves. The release is planned to continue until October.
The decline is likely to continue as the driving season winds down. At current levels, pump prices are still 23% higher than the same time last year.