A record number of U.S. motorists will travel by road over the upcoming Memorial Day holiday weekend, in part because of lower gasoline prices, AAA said.

The agency forecast 39.4 million people will travel by car from May 22 through May 26, up by about 3% from the previous record set last year of 38.2 million travelers.

The auto club on Monday predicted 45.1 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home over the holiday weekend. The organization said it expects 3.61 million will travel by air, up 1.8% from 2024, while 2.08 million are expected to use some other form of transportation, up 8.5% from last year.

With the holiday approaching, the average U.S. price for gasoline is $3.1368/gal, about 46cts below the $3.59/gal average price motorists paid during the Memorial Day weekend last year.

Petroleum prices were up Monday following news that the U.S. and China have agreed to sharply reduce the tariffs as they work to negotiate a trade agreement.

Still, oil prices are well below this time last year. West Texas Intermediate crude futures was priced at about $62/bbl, well below the May 2024 average of $79/bbl.

While prices were rising Monday, optimism over avoiding a demand-reducing trade war was offset by oversupply worries as OPEC and allied producers boosted production by 411,000 b/d this month and announced plans to continue that additional output in June. Those concerns are likely to keep a lid on increases in the short term.

Retailers could benefit from a summer surge in sales. Year-to-date fuel sales are running about 4.2% below the same period in 2024, according to OPIS DemandPro data.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

-- Reporting by Steve Cronin, scronin@Opisnet.com; Editing by Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 12, 2025 14:58 ET (18:58 GMT)

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