RBOB Gasoline Falls to Its Lowest Since Early March: What Wholesale Prices Say About the Pump (Nov 2026)
By OilPriceAPI · Published · OilPriceAPI data through Nov 12, 2026, retrieved Nov 13, 2026; EIA spot data through Nov 10, 2026; EIA retail data for Nov 9, 2026
RBOB gasoline is at its lowest since early March. The OilPriceAPI RBOB series, which tracks NYMEX RBOB futures, averaged $2.71 a gallon on Nov 9, 2026, its lowest daily average since Mar 11, 2026 ($2.70). It then averaged $2.62 on each of Nov 10, 11 and 12, 2026, the lowest since Mar 5, 2026 ($2.54).
As of Nov 12, 2026, that is $1.10 below the 2026 high of $3.72 on May 18, 2026, a fall of 29.6%. It is still $0.60 above the $2.02 of Feb 27, 2026, the last reading in February.
The claim
The call is Javier Blas's. In a post on X on Nov 9, 2026, he wrote: “The wholesale gasoline market is trading at $2.68 per gallon, the lowest since the early days of the war (Mar. 11th).” The observation and the framing are his; this piece compares it with OilPriceAPI and EIA data.
Verdict, as of Nov 12, 2026: right, and the price has fallen further since. On Nov 9, 2026, our intraday samples ranged from $2.63 to $2.79, so $2.68 sits inside the day's range. The day's average of $2.71 was the lowest since Mar 11, 2026, the date he names. On Nov 10, 2026, the average fell to $2.62, which takes the comparison back to Mar 5, 2026.
The readings
“Lowest since” here means the most recent earlier day whose daily average was at or below the day in question. Mar 6, 2026 is in the table because it was $2.64, just above the $2.62 of Nov 10, 2026: the last lower day is Mar 5.
| Date | RBOB daily average, $/gal | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 27, 2026 | 2.02 | Last reading in February |
| Mar 5, 2026 | 2.54 | Last day below Nov 10 |
| Mar 6, 2026 | 2.64 | |
| Mar 11, 2026 | 2.70 | Last day below Nov 9 |
| May 18, 2026 | 3.72 | 2026 high |
| Nov 6, 2026 | 2.77 | |
| Nov 9, 2026 | 2.71 | Lowest since Mar 11 |
| Nov 10, 2026 | 2.62 | Lowest since Mar 5 |
| Nov 11, 2026 | 2.62 | |
| Nov 12, 2026 | 2.62 | Latest full day |
Source: OilPriceAPI GASOLINE_RBOB_USD, daily average of intraday samples, /v1/prices/past_year, retrieved Nov 13, 2026. Nov 13, 2026 was a partial day at retrieval and is left out; its samples through 13:14 UTC ranged from $2.64 to $2.67.
Physical spot prices go back further
EIA's daily spot prices for physical gasoline tell the same story, with earlier comparison dates. U.S. Gulf Coast conventional regular gasoline was $2.557 a gallon on Nov 9, 2026, its lowest since Mar 10, 2026 ($2.480), and $2.538 on Nov 10, 2026. New York Harbor conventional regular was $2.434 on Nov 9, 2026, its lowest since Mar 2, 2026 ($2.393), and $2.415 on Nov 10, 2026 (EIA spot prices, retrieved Nov 13, 2026).
So the spot market does not give a Mar 11 low. Gulf Coast spot points to Mar 10, 2026 and New York Harbor to Mar 2, 2026. The futures-tracking series gives Mar 11 for Nov 9 and Mar 5 for Nov 10. All three agree on the month.
What it means at the pump
Retail has followed part of the way. U.S. regular gasoline averaged $3.995 a gallon in EIA's weekly survey of Nov 9, 2026 (EIA). Retail minus the RBOB daily average for the same day was $1.285, the widest of the 45 Mondays in 2026 to that date. RBOB then fell another $0.09 by Nov 10, 2026, after that survey was taken.
The companion piece, why gas prices are going down, measures that gap week by week and shows what it would imply for retail if it returned to its recent average. Live readings are on the RBOB gasoline price page and the US gasoline prices page.
What this series is
The API catalog describes GASOLINE_RBOB_USD as an “RBOB gasoline futures-tracking series” with the contract reference NYMEX RBOB (RB). It is sampled through the trading day, and the daily figures above are averages of those samples, rounded to two decimals. It is not an official settlement price, and the catalog does not verify the contract month of each observation.
A settlement series can differ from these averages, so a “lowest since” date taken from settlements may not match these dates exactly. For scale: $2.62 on Nov 12, 2026 is $0.29 below the $2.91 of Mar 12, 2026.
What would change this
- A daily average above $2.71 would put RBOB back above its Nov 9, 2026 level, and the “lowest since March” line would describe a past low, not the current price.
- A daily average below $2.54 would take the comparison back to Mar 4, 2026 ($2.47).
Check it yourself
This prints the latest daily average and the last earlier day at or below it. The RBOB data guide for developers covers the endpoints in more detail.
import datetime as dt
import requests
API = "https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/prices/past_year"
HEADERS = {"Authorization": "Token YOUR_API_KEY"}
r = requests.get(API, params={"by_code": "GASOLINE_RBOB_USD", "interval": "1d"},
headers=HEADERS, timeout=30)
r.raise_for_status()
days = {}
for row in r.json()["data"]["prices"]:
day = dt.date.fromisoformat(row["created_at"][:10])
if day.weekday() < 5: # Monday to Friday days[day] = float(row["price"]) # daily average, USD per gallon
# The newest row can be a day still in progress.
ordered = sorted(days)
latest = ordered[-1]
earlier = [d for d in ordered[:-1] if days[d] <= days[latest]]
print(latest, days[latest],
"lowest since", earlier[-1] if earlier else "start of series")Sources
- Javier Blas, post on X, Nov 9, 2026.
- OilPriceAPI
GASOLINE_RBOB_USD: daily averages from/v1/prices/past_yearthrough Nov 12, 2026; intraday samples from/v1/prices/past_week; series description from/v1/commodities/GASOLINE_RBOB_USD. Retrieved Nov 13, 2026. - EIA, spot prices: U.S. Gulf Coast and New York Harbor conventional gasoline regular spot price FOB, daily, through Nov 10, 2026. Retrieved Nov 13, 2026.
- EIA, gasoline and diesel fuel update: U.S. regular all formulations retail gasoline price, Nov 9, 2026. Retrieved Nov 13, 2026.