Gas falls to $4.04 on 14th drop, lowest since August

By the numbers (AAA / MyNewsLA): Regular is about 15 cents below a week ago, about 33 cents below a month ago, and still about 96 cents above a year ago (~$3.08). MyNewsLA, citing AAA and Oil Price Information Service, says the national average is still about $1.06 above where it sat when the Iran war began on Feb. 28. AAA has said 2026 is the first year the November average has stayed above $4.

Experts still eye sub-$4: Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy told CBS News on Friday he expects the national average below $4 next week, with diesel under $6 by Thanksgiving. Tom Kloza, chief energy adviser for Gulf Oil, told CBS it should sink below $4 within about 10 days if retail markups near 75 cents a gallon compress toward a more normal 40 cents.

Oil backdrop: West Texas Intermediate settled Friday at $90.83 a barrel and Brent at $98.32, Xinhua reported from the New York and London closes — up slightly on the day after a sharp weekly slide from a Monday peak above $110 for Brent.

Original layer — 14 drops later, still not under $4: Fourteen straight AAA declines have cut regular from well above $4.20 to $4.04, yet the print remains a few cents above the psychological line experts flagged. That is the retail lag: cheaper crude and winter-blend gasoline take days to show up at the pump, which is why De Haan and Kloza still see a break under $4 if oil holds. The same lag works the other way if fighting with Iran heats up again.

Weak spot / What the evidence shows: Sub-$4 forecasts are not locked in. CNBC reported Saturday that analysts still see a high risk of Iran-war escalation even after Democrats swept the midterms, and Rapidan Energy Group's Bob McNally said crude would vault above $100 a barrel again if fighting resumes. A soft AAA print this weekend does not erase that oil-risk premium.

The price ladder (AAA national average for regular): about $2.98 when the Iran war began (earlier AAA figures); about $3.08 a year ago; about $4.37 a month ago; about $4.18 a week ago; $4.07 on Friday; and $4.04 on Saturday. The all-time AAA high remains $5.02, set June 14, 2022.

Updated Nov. 7 ~3:05 p.m. PT. AAA site banner as of Nov. 7: regular $4.0371 (headline rounds to $4.04; summary uses $4.037). MyNewsLA/CNS: 14th consecutive daily drop, −3.1¢ vs Friday, lowest since Aug. 12; −14.6¢ week / −32.9¢ month / +95.8¢ year; +$1.055 since Iran war start. Diesel from AAA table scrape Nov. 7: $6.2075 current, $6.2305 yesterday, $6.3101 week ago. Friday oil settles (Xinhua/Nymex): WTI $90.83 (+31¢), Brent $98.32 (+3¢). Sub-$4 expert quotes retained from Nov. 6 CBS (De Haan / Kloza). Weak spot refreshed with CNBC Nov 7 Iran-escalation risk + McNally. Photos unchanged (file photos).