Pump prices to stay below $3 a gallon ahead of Memorial Day

Arkansans should see pump prices below $3 a gallon going into the Memorial Day weekend, but motorists traveling across the state should expect crowded highways as vacation-seeking families emerge from their recession-induced hibernation.

“While the economy continues to be rocked by waves of occasional uncertainty, improved economic performance from one year ago should cause more Americans to take vacations this Memorial Day holiday weekend,” said Glen MacDonell, director, AAA Travel Services.

Memorial Day, on May 31, is the traditional beginning of the summer driving season. Over the past five years, regular gasoline retail prices have increased an average of 18 cents per gallon from April to May, when most of the country is required to switch to summer gasoline.

AAA projected the number of Americans traveling on vacation this Memorial Day holiday weekend will increase 5.4% from 2009 with nearly 32.1 million travelers taking a trip away from home. Last year, 30.5 million Americans traveled during the same period.

Trips by auto are expected to increase in popularity with 87%, or 28 million people, reaching their destination by driving. This is an increase of 5.8% from last Memorial Day when 26.4 million travelers went by motor vehicle. Leisure air travel also is expected to grow slightly with 2.15 million holiday flyers expected. This would be an increase of 2.4% from one year ago when 2.1 million flew.

Although the AAA does not expect regular unleaded to average more than $3 per gallon across the U.S., pump prices will inch up higher as refiners’ switch to summer-grade fuels.

“As Memorial Day weekend approaches, many consumers are starting to pay more attention to gasoline prices, which have risen by about 11 cents per gallon since the end of March,” said the U.S. Energy Information Administration in its weekly petroleum report. “Domestic refineries, which produce most of our gasoline, have already been gearing up for the upcoming summer driving season by switching over to the production of summer-grade products and preparing for higher utilization rates.”

In Arkansas, drivers are paying an average of $2.70 per gallon for regular unleaded and $3.02 for premium, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge report.

Nationally, the U.S. average price for regular gasoline dipped to $2.86 per gallon, more than four cents lower than last week but 56 cents higher than a year ago. Prices fell in all regions of the country with the largest drop taking place in the Midwest and the smallest occurring in the Rocky Mountains.