When more drivers hit the road in summer months, demand for gas, and therefore prices, normally tick up. Not this year.
Fuel price tracker GasBuddy is predicting a national average of $2.27 per gallon this weekend, down significantly from $3.66 two years ago. Senior analyst at GasBuddy Gregg Laskoski said motorists are making the most of affordable gas.
"That's really serving as a catalyst for national leisure travel," Laskoski told CNBC's "Squawk Alley" Friday. "So people are just instinctively saying, 'You know what, the prices aren't going to get much better than what we see now, let's just hit the road.'"
Consumers can thank an oversupplied global oil market for the lingering low prices, Laskoski said.
"That's one of the reasons why crude oil prices have much more downward pressure right now," he said. "Even with consumer demand for gasoline as high as it is."
The number of oil rigs actively operating in the U.S. rose for the fourth time in five weeks by 11 rigs, now totaling 341, according to Baker Hughes. At this time last July, drillers were operating 640 rigs.
Laskoski said it's possible that demand will keep growing and hit 10 million barrels per day or higher. Even if that happens, he said, there's more than enough inventory to meet driver demands.
"Right now demand is matching the highest we've ever seen," he said. "We're at 9.8 million barrels a day of gasoline demand, that matches the record we set back in August 2007."
In the fourth quarter, Laskoski said prices may drop as consumer demand dwindles.
"You have refineries that are able to put cheaper gas into the market," he said. "That winter blend gasoline that EPA mandates, that's what pushes gas prices lower every year, typically in the fourth quarter."