For the first time in over five months, gas prices in the United States have dipped below the $4 per gallon mark.
According to data from the American Automobile Association, the national average for regular gasoline declined to $3.999 per gallon on Thursday, showing a reduction of nearly 3 cents compared to the day before.
This decrease in fuel costs coincides with the anticipated reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. This development comes after the US and Iran reached a memorandum of understanding to resolve the conflict that had previously disrupted global oil distribution.
The last occasion the US saw its national average gas price fall below $4 was on March 30.
GasBuddy noted that the national average price had already dropped to approximately $3.98 by early Thursday, following a dip below the $4 threshold on Sunday.
Indiana has the lowest statewide average at $3.40 a gallon and is among 28 states where average gas prices are now below $4.
President Trump signed the US-Iran memorandum of understanding on Wednesday over dinner at the Palace of Versailles in France.
Iran’s closure of the key shipping route in late February cut off roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply, sending crude oil and gasoline prices sharply higher.
Gas prices climbed above $4 nationwide in late March after most shipping through the strait was blocked.
The national average peaked at $4.56 a gallon on May 21 before beginning a steady decline as expectations grew that negotiations would lead to the waterway reopening.
Americans have spent about $46 billion more on gasoline since the start of the conflict, Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, said earlier this week, according to Reuters.