The majority of Carolinians saw little-to-no changes to pump prices or a decline on the week during the holiday weekend. However, prices may not stay stagnant for long.

“Supply and demand levels are starting to look more like typical summer numbers,” said Tiffany Wright, spokesperson, AAA – The Auto Club Group in the Carolinas. “Increasing demand and decreasing supply, combined with more expensive crude oil prices means gas prices are likely to fluctuate throughout the month.”

North Carolina’s gas price average decreased by 2 cents on the week, currently sitting at $2.89 – this is 22 cents more expensive than a month ago and $1.07 more expensive than last year. South Carolina’s gas price average decreased by 3 cents on the week, currently sitting at $2.82 – this is 22 cents more expensive than a month ago and $1.15 more expensive than last year. South Carolina is also a part of the nation’s top 10 largest weekly changes and least expensive markets.

At $3.04, the national gas price average only increased one penny leading up to Memorial Day weekend. This is $1.05 more than last year at this time and 15 cents more expensive than last month. The May national gas price averaged $3/gallon. That is just 11 cents more than the May 2018 and 2019 national averages. With a $3+/gallon average at the start of June, this month could prove to be the most expensive average in years.

For the week ending May 21, demand jumped to 9.4 million b/d – the highest reported number since early March 2020 and up nearly 30 percent over the same week last year, indicating motorists are filling up more frequently.

Although prices ended the day down due to market liquidation at the end of the month, crude prices gained on the week after the Energy Information Administration’s weekly report showed that total domestic crude inventories decreased by 1.7 million bbl to 484.3 million bbl. However, last week’s price gains were limited by market concerns that increasing coronavirus infections around the world could reduce crude consumption this year. For this week, crude prices could climb further if EIA’s next report shows another decline in crude stocks.

For updated state and metro prices log on to https://gasprices.aaa.com/