The average US gasoline price is ranging from $1.99 to $2.008 per gallon and helping holiday travelers to save big amounts. The US holiday travelers are paying the price for gasoline at its lowest since 2008 and saving up to $1.6 billion.

According to GasBuddy, the gasoline price on 23 December 2008 was $1.637 and now it's about $1.998 per gallon. The cheaper gasoline price is making it very rosy ahead of Christmas. The motorists are extending their travels as sub-$2 gasoline price per gallon is available at 70 percent of stations across the US.

GasBuddy is an online consumer advocacy site which tracks gasoline prices. It has come out with its latest annual survey on holiday travel. The report finds that US consumers don't care about money when it comes to holiday travel.

Only 19 percent of survey respondents agree that fuel price would change their holiday travel plans.49 percent said they go for extra travel as they can save on cheaper gasoline prices.

GasBuddy's holiday survey indicates that 88 percent of those moving out of city will be traveling by car. 66 percent of them are traveling minimum 200 miles round trip. The year-end traveling of US consumers is mostly during 23 December to 3 January. 

As per a report by Yahoo Finance, five states have lowest gasoline prices. The gasoline price per gallon in Oklahoma is $1.747, $1.754 in Missouri, $1.770 in South Carolina, $1.771 in Kansas and $1.775 in Arkansas. The average gasoline price is less than $2 a gallon in overall 30 states.

The gasoline price above $2 per gallon is in states such as California ($2.742), Hawaii ($2.724), Nevada ($2.497), Washington ($2.434) and Alaska ($2.351). The highest gasoline price is in Los Angeles at $2.897. The most average gasoline price in the US is at $1.999 per gallon. Five percent of stations in the US are selling gasoline at $1.640 a gallon. 

Patrick DeHaan, a senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, said: "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in 2008. There has not been a better time in years for motorists to extend their trips and travel farther as sub-$2 per gallon gas can be found at almost 70 percent of stations in the country."

The gasoline price of below $2 per gallon can result in total savings of $1.6 billion on vehicles owners, as reported by Bloomberg. The lower gasoline price is encouraging consumers to spend more time in traveling this holiday season.

The Christmas day average price for gasoline was $3.23 in 2011, $3.25 in 2012, $3.26 in 2013, $2.32 in 2014 and $2.02 in 2015.

The US consumers are saving big as the oil price fell 66 percent during the past 18 months. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped over 60 percent in the global markets and is boosting refiners to produce more. Refiners are witnessing a rise in their margins. 

USA Today states that Thanksgiving travelers are enjoying lower gasoline prices in over a decade. Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service, said: "We had lower prices in 2008 and 2009, but not for Thanksgiving. The cheapest markets are in Great Lakes states."

The global energy industry is witnessing huge surplus in oil production. Organization of oil exporting countries (Opec) has denied to cut in production as it wants to sustain its market share.  This situation is forcing many oil companies to slash jobs and cut down on investment plans.