The Hill reported on Tuesday that the national average price of gasoline dropped below $4 a gallon for the first time since July. According to AAA, cited in The Hill's report on the decline, the average price reached $3.98, which the outlet described as the first time in 114 days that the fuel was below that level.
The Hill also reported that prices rose sharply in the months after the start of the Iran war, before the latest decline. Its account placed the drop in the context of that earlier increase but did not describe the specific factors behind the movement in prices.
CBS News reported separately that gas prices slipped below $4 a gallon for the first time since July. In its report on gas prices, CBS News said that petroleum expert Patrick De Haan predicted prices would continue to sink and reach $3.75 a gallon by Thanksgiving. The projection is De Haan's, as CBS News reported it, and the outlet did not present it as a measured price.
The two accounts agree on the $4 threshold and on the first time since July. The CBS News summary available for this report does not state a current national average, so the $3.98 figure appears only in The Hill's account, which attributes it to AAA.
Neither summary explains what caused the decline in prices. The Hill's report was written by Ryan Mancini, while the CBS News item listed no author in the material reviewed for this story.
Neither outlet gives a timeline for the $3.75 level beyond De Haan's Thanksgiving projection, as CBS News reported it, and the available summaries do not indicate whether the projection has been confirmed by any other source.
Sources: CBS News: Gas prices slip below $4 a gallon for first time since July; The Hill: Average cost of gas drops below $4 per gallon for first time since July.