People drove a lot during the 2022 holidays, and that helped to drive gasoline prices up in many areas of the country.

The cold snap that followed resulted in sharply lower demand for gas, forcing prices back down.

"As we head toward February, pump prices will likely dip, barring any jolt in the global oil market," said AAA spokesman Andrew Gross. "It is likely that the national average prices we saw heading into Christmas may have been the lows for this winter."

What Massachusetts Gas Prices Might Do In The First Quarter
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AAA reported that "According to data from the Energy Information Administration, gas demand dropped from 9.33 million to 7.51 million barrels per day" in the first week of January 2023. Meanwhile, AAA said that "Total domestic gasoline stocks fell by 300,000 bbl to 222.7 million bbl."

"Lower gasoline demand has contributed to limiting increases in pump prices," according to AAA.

What Massachusetts Gas Prices Might Do In The First Quarter
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The average price for a gallon of gas in Massachusetts on Monday, January 16 was $3.304, a slight decrease. In Rhode Island, it was $3.251, a slight increase. The national average was $3.305.

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The least expensive gas in Massachusetts is found right here along the SouthCoast. The most expensive gasoline is in Greater Boston, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket.

In Rhode Island, expect to pay more for gas in Newport County and less in Kent County.

What Massachusetts Gas Prices Might Do In The First Quarter
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The highest price ever recorded for gasoline in Massachusetts was $5.049 on June 6, 2022. Rhode Island's highest gasoline price on record was $5.020 on June 13, 2022.

A gallon of diesel sold for $5.100 in Rhode Island on Monday, January 16, 2023. The highest price recorded for diesel was $6.471 a gallon on May 18, 2022.

A gallon of diesel sold for $5.077 in Massachusetts on Monday, January 16, 2023. The record for a gallon of diesel in Massachusetts was $6.410 on May 18, 2022.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

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