Americans driving on their summer vacations will enjoy the cheapest gasoline in 12 years as prices have stalled just above $2 a gallon.
Drivers will pay 59 cents a gallon less at the pump this summer than a year ago and $1.55 below 2014, when oil prices peaked above $100 a barrel, the Energy Information Administration reported Tuesday. Gasoline demand this summer will increase 1.4 percent from last year to a record.
"Low pump prices and continuing growth in employment contribute to more driving, resulting in a forecast of record-high gasoline demand this summer," EIA Administrator Adam Sieminski said in an e-mailed statement. "For all of 2016, the average household will save about $350 on gasoline purchases compared to last year."
Americans might save as much as $15 billion on gasoline during June, July and August, compared to the same period last year, which would work out to about $70 per licensed driver, according to Michael Green, a spokesman in Washington for AAA, the nation's largest motoring group.
U.S. refiners are running at a record pace for this time of year after a global glut of crude sent prices tumbling to the lowest in more than 12 years in February.
Oil is 19 percent below last year at this time.
