July 6, 2026, 10:29 a.m. ET
- To fill a 15-gallon tank, Michiganders are now paying, on average, less than $60.
- President Donald Trump is accusing major oil companies and gasoline retailers of price gouging.
For the first time since April, Michigan’s average gasoline prices fell below $4 a gallon. They are still significantly higher than they were a year ago but moving — to the delight of many consumers — in a downward direction.
“Michigan drivers,” AAA spokeswoman Adrienne Woodland said, “are seeing some relief.”
The average pump price on Monday, July 6, was $3.95 a gallon, according to AAA. That was down almost a quarter from a month ago, but still 80 cents higher than they were last summer, just one year ago.
The national average was $3.80 a gallon.
To fill a 15-gallon tank, Michiganders are now paying, on average, less than $60.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is accusing major oil companies and gasoline retailers of price gouging, with the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission on Friday urging state attorneys general to investigate and consumers to report high prices.
In metro Detroit, the average on Sunday was just over $4 a gallon, at $4.01, according to AAA, and along a one-mile stretch of Woodward in Royal Oak, prices at the pump varied widely, with one station, for instance, charging $3.69 a gallon while another charged $4.39.
Diesel prices, which in May hit an all-time high of $6.20 a gallon, are at $4.95 a gallon.
Throughout Michigan, the other communities with the highest averages were Ann Arbor, $4.05, and Lansing, $3.97; communities with the cheapest average gas prices were Marquette, $3.62; Traverse City, $3.90, and Flint, $3.91.
Over the holiday weekend, gasoline demand increased, from 8.77 million barrels a day to 9.13 million, according to the Energy Information Administration, while domestic supply went down to 214 million from 216.3 million.
Crude oil prices were also down, trading below $70 a barrel.
Trump has complained about gas prices. He accused oil companies on social media of gouging consumers last month, while ordering the justice department to “start looking into this,” and seemed to issue a threat, saying, “prices better start going down a lot faster.”
He also demanded retailers reduce prices, threatening “big problems” if they did not.
His target: $2.50 a gallon.
It’s unclear what formula Trump is using to determine that figure or even if there is price gouging, and more than one petroleum analyst has noted that the price of gasoline is determined by multiple factors, and the price of crude oil is only one of them.
What’s more, prosecutors rarely charge gas stations for price gouging.
Still, Trump has reason to be concerned about gas prices with the midterm elections approaching.
While campaigning for president, Trump promised to bring gas prices down, and after his election, he claimed credit for what he said were low prices. Last month, however, he said that gasoline prices were “not very high.”
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or [email protected]
Source: Original Article
