Gas prices on Thursday were slightly less on average than they did one year ago — with a slim one-cent margin — but experts say there could be cheaper gas in the weeks and month to come.

Thursday’s national average for a gallon of gas was approximately $3.33, AAA said. That’s down from $3.34 this time last year, and significantly lower than the record high of $5.01 a gallon recorded in mid-June.

When gasoline prices shot upward earlier this year, Mark Adams tapped the brakes on his hobby of exploring ghost towns and other historic sites across Oregon and sharing the imagery on YouTube. Now, he is back.

A medical-device technician by day, Mr. Adams bought a more fuel-efficient car and has since watched his weekly gas bill fall from as high as $75 to about $30. It is enough of a difference that the 57-year-old has begun charting out which abandoned structures he is going to visit next.  

California regulators would cap the profit margin for oil refiners and could fine companies that exceed that limit under a proposal announced Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the latest escalation in his battle with the oil industry over a summer of record gas prices.

Americans are now paying less for gasoline than they did before Russia invaded Ukraine in February as fuel prices continue to drop amid slowing demand across the globe. 

The average price for a gallon of gas is now $3.47, or less than the average $3.54 per gallon that motorists paid the week of February 21, when Russia began its military campaign in Ukraine, according to data from AAA.

Saudi Arabia and other OPEC oil producers are discussing an output increase, the group’s delegates said, a move that could help heal a rift with the Biden administration and keep energy flowing amid new attempts to blunt Russia’s oil industry over the Ukraine war.

Dwindling stockpiles of diesel have driven prices to a record premium over gasoline and crude oil, showing how war, weather and other disruptions to globalized energy markets are still producing price shocks and potential shortages.

The economy has been one of the most important issues for Americans ahead of the midterm elections.

Nearly everything has become more expensive compared to a year ago. The cost of food, rent, energy, medical care, and new cars has soared in the past year. Rising prices have weighed heavily on the minds of voters who will soon determine the outcome of elections across the country and could lead to a shift in control of the House and Senate, which has big implications for the Biden administration’s policy agenda.

In 1992, the infamous Democratic strategist and campaign adviser, James Carville, famously coined the phrase "It’s the economy, stupid" as part of a campaign effort to win voters to Bill Clinton. 

It was a contentious presidential year. President George H. W. Bush was seeking re-election but given the prevailing recession and growing economic uncertainty, Carville identified the pain point that would ultimately deliver votes to secure the presidency for the Democrats. 

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said in a recent interview that voters' economic concerns are not as important as protecting democracy.

The South Carolina Democrat told Fox News on Thursday that Americans should ponder whether they want to live in a democracy or autocracy, conjuring past comments made by former President Donald Trump in which he called the press "the enemy of the people."

Pandemic shortages, Russia's war in Ukraine, and plain old gouging are hiking prices across the globe. A dollar doesn't go as far as it used to, and many Americans are struggling.

Higher prices at the pump and the grocery store hurt. But there is also some good news.

For one thing, we're actually experiencing less inflation than many other countries. Inflation here is 8 percent, compared to over 10 percent in the U.K. and Eurozone. Turkey has seen rates of over 80 percent.

For another, we're better equipped to weather hard times than we've been in decades.