It’s the first time the national average has dropped below $3 since 2021, but not every state is seeing such low prices at the pump.

Oil and gas prices are set to drop by 2026, with Brent crude falling to $55 per barrel and retail gas reaching $3 per gallon, according to new EIA projections.

Gas prices dropped to their lowest point since May 9, 2021, on Friday morning, with nationwide averages below $3 per gallon, according to GasBuddy Head of Petroleum Analysis Patrick De Haan.

Christmas has come early for the American consumer as the national average for a gallon of gasoline according to AAA fell fractionally below $3 on Monday for the first time since May 2021.

Natural gas rallied Wednesday, with a more than 3% climb putting prices on track for their highest settlement since December 2022, as U.S. winter weather is expected to lead to a shortage in supplies of the fuel.

For Putnam, the range of gas prices was even wider, with the highest prices going over $3. GasBuddy's top 10 best gas prices for the area ranged between $2.87 and $3.09, with the both the cheapest and highest prices spotted in Brewster. Some prices in Putnam were higher than both the state and national averages.

GasBuddy predicts the "low" gas prices will continue over the next few months, "so long as market conditions remain similar to where they are today." The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects gas prices to fall below $3 per gallon on average in 2026, according to an outlook released in November.

Gas prices in Houston dropped nearly 5 cents in the last week of November, averaging at $2.41 per gallon, according to a survey of 2,559 stations in the city.