Gasoline spending to hit lowest point in a decade

The average household’s spending on gasoline is expected to hit its lowest level in more than a decade this year, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

The agency expects average spending to be $1,817 per household, more than $700 less than 2014, it said in a Friday report.

{mosads}The EIA’s forecast is based on the plunging price of gasoline, which averaged $2.413 a gallon Monday, more than a dollar less than a year prior. That is due to the more than 50 percent drop in the price of crude oil, the main driver of gasoline prices.

But the EIA’s estimate does not take into account changes in driving habits or increasing fuel efficiency of vehicles, it said.

Individual households’ gasoline spending can vary greatly based on the number of vehicles, driving miles, size of the household and other factors.

For example, households with five or more people can spend as much as 50 percent more on gasoline compared with two-person households, which are the most common households, the EIA said.