Texas has the nation’s cheapest gas at $3,086 per gallon

• Gasoline in Texas averaged $3,086 per gallon in January and February 2023
• Texas also had the second-lowest increase in gas prices over a ten-year period
• California and Hawaii had the highest prices in 2023 at $4,907 and $4,617

A new study found that Texas has the cheapest gas prices in the country so far in 2023, coming in at 37 cents per gallon below the national average.

The car subscription service Finn found Texans paid an average of $3.086 for regular gas in January and February, below the current national average of $3.40.

Finn’s study found that Texans could drive the furthest on $50 of gas, which in Texas bought about 16.2 gallons and in a Ford F-150 would propel drivers for 356.45 miles.

Tailing Texas for cheapest gas was Mississippi with a averaged $3.124 per gallon, and Oklahoma and Missouri with an average of $3.136 per gallon.

The most expensive states for gas were Hawaii, where gas cost an average of $4.907 per gallon, and California, where a gallon cost an average of $4.617.

The data from Finn noted that Texas ranked sixth in the nation for the number of miles residents traveled in a day and for the increase in miles driven over 23 years.

“Across the United States, Texas ranks sixth for daily travel with 17,123 lane miles and also ranks sixth for an increase in vehicle miles traveled since 2000, at a rate of 49%,” the study reads.

“This is 23% higher than the national average, which is 26%.”

Since the survey was conducted, gas prices have dropped even lower in Texas, hitting $2.97 a gallon on Monday. That’s slightly more expensive than Mississippi, which has the nation’s cheapest gas at $2.95 a gallon.

Finn’s data also found that Texas ranked second in the nation for the smallest increase in gas prices over 10 years.

The study noted that in 2013, the average gas price in Texas was $2.763 per gallon, making 2023’s average $3.086 per gallon year-to-date an 11.69% increase over the past decade.

“As previously noted, Texas currently holds the title for the state with the lowest gas prices,” the study said. “However, it is the 11th most congested state at 58%, which is 11% higher than the national average.”

Hawaii and California also made the bottom of that list, showing the highest increase in average gas prices over a ten-year period.

California jumped a whopping 56.14 percent from a 2013 average of $2,957 per gallon to a 2023 average of $4,617 per gallon, and Hawaii increased 57.53 percent from $3,115 per gallon to $4,907 per gallon.

The data from Finn comes after the US was plagued by out-of-control gas prices in 2022, which peaked at an average of $5.01 per gallon in June.

Although prices eventually came down from the dizzying high, experts warn that 2023 will not be entirely a return to cheaper times at the pump.

2023 will not be a piece of cake for motorists. That can be expensive, Patrick De Haan, director of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told CNN in December.

“The national average could exceed $4 per gallon as early as May — and that’s something that could go on for much of the summer driving season,” he added.

GasBuddy’s project rates will rise to a range of $3.52 to $4.05 in May, when the summer driving season starts and demand increases.

The average gas price in the US is currently $3.405.

Gas prices typically rise in the summer when more Americans hit the road and refineries switch to a more expensive summer formulation intended to reduce air pollution.

GasBuddy did not expect a return to $5 per gallon gas next year.

De Haan told CNN he expects prices to peak as high as $4.25 a gallon in August before falling back toward $3 a gallon by the end of the year.

The federal Energy Information Administration has issued similar forecasts, seeing gas prices averaging $3.51 over the course of 2023, down from an average of $3.99 in 2022.

Gas prices rise and fall primarily based on the international price of crude oil. For every $10 increase in the price of a barrel of oil, a gallon of gas rises by about 20 cents.

Oil prices soared in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, which led to a ban on Russian oil exports. OPEC also cut production despite calls from the Biden administration.

US output has also not returned to the record levels reached before the Covid-19 pandemic, which shut down many marginal producers amid falling demand.

Starting in March, Biden pulled 180 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, bringing the stock to its lowest level since the 1980s.

The reserve was created after the 1970s Arab oil embargo to provide the United States with a supply that could be used in an emergency.

Drawing on the reserve is among the few things a president can do himself to try to control inflation, which often creates a political liability for the party that controls the White House.