LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The average price for an unleaded gallon of gas dipped below the $3 mark on Thursday, only the second time that has happened in 2025, according to AAA.

The average price of a gallon of gas marked $2.995 on Thursday, about 50 cents less expensive than a year ago. The only other day this year that gas was under $3 a gallon was Feb. 28.

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On Friday, the average price in Michigan ticked back up to $3.037, AAA reported.

The good news for Michigan motorists is that energy analysts project that the sub-$3 gallon of gas may stick around. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has projected that gas prices in the Midwest region will average about $3 a gallon for this year and drop to about $2.82 a gallon in 2026.

“The lower U.S. gasoline prices are primarily a result of lower crude oil prices, as well as decreasing gasoline consumption in 2026 because of increasing fleetwide fuel economy,” the Energy Information Administration stated in a report.

The Energy Information Administration released its data this week on the national price for a gallon of gas. It was $3.247 for the month of February, a slight increase from the $3.196 in January. Those 2025 January and February months were the lowest for the start of the year going back to 2021. During the pandemic the average national price of a gallon of gas dropped to $1.938 in April 2020.