Gas prices are at their lowest since 2016 for the holiday season.

With the long Christmas season getting under way this week travelers across the U.S. are finding cheaper gasoline for the holiday journeys.

At $2.37, the average price of gasoline has dropped pump prices to the lowest level for the month of December since 2016.

“AAA expects 102 million Americans to drive to their holiday destination this year, which is a 4% increase year-over-year,” said Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson. “No doubt cheaper gas prices are fueling their decision to hit the road.”

On the week, states are seeing gas price averages that are as much as 12 cents cheaper. Florida (+1 cent) is the only state to see gas prices increase, while Missouri’s gas price average dropped to $1.96.

(California requiring transit agencies to buy electric buses. Click Here for the story.)

Drivers are going to continue paying less at the pump as Christmas approaches.

The national average is a nickel less than last week, 26 cents less than last month and 6 cents less than a year ago. With gasoline production on the high side – 10 million barrels per day – amid low demand, motorists can expect gas prices to continue declining through year-end, Casselano said.

The biggest drops include a 12-cent drop in Ohio, a 9-cent per gallon drop in Indiana, Idaho, Montana and Michigan and an 8-cent per gallon drop in Colorado and Illinois.

Pump prices in the West Coast region remain among the highest in the nation but while expensive, they are getting cheaper with all state averages, including California, moving lower on the week, Casselano said.

(Click Here for details about NADA’s prediction that auto sales will fall in 2019.)

Meanwhile, the federal Energy Information Agency reported inventories of gasoline continue to increase.

The EIA’s weekly petroleum status report, for the week ending Dec. 7, showed West Coast gasoline stocks increased by approximately 600,000 barrels to 28.3 million barrels. Stocks are approximately 2.4 million barrels lower than at this time last year, which could cause prices to spike if there is a supply challenge in the region this week.

At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, the price for a barrel of crude oil decreased by $1.38 to settle at $51.20. Oil prices fell last week as market observers continue to worry that the global crude market is oversupplied.

(To see how FCA saved the November sales numbers, Click Here.)

Although the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil producers, including Russia, agreed last week to reduce output by 1.2 million barrels per day at the beginning of 2019, crude prices will likely remain low until the production reduction agreement is in place.