In the run-up to the Labor Day holiday weekend, the travel service agency AAA reports that the average price for a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline in Louisiana stands at $2.97. In Arkansas the price stands at $3.02, while in Texas the average price stands at $2.96. Those prices are well below the national average of $3.36. To put the current price into some historical context, in 2022 the national average stood at $3.99 during this same time period. Worse, two months earlier the price peaked on June 13, 2022 nationally at $5.01, fueled largely by long-term concerns after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.