Rising Gas Prices — Inflation Hitting the Gas Pumps

Omicron hit the U.S. in December and when it hit, gas prices started falling. At the time the new variation of the virus hit, the price of a barrel of oil fell from $84 to $64. It didn’t take very long for a barrel to go back up to $84.

That’s not good news, and Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy.com says right now we’re seeing the calm before the storm.

Prices will soon hit $100 a barrel and by March we are going to see prices climbing to as high as $4 a gallon at the pump. The reason — De Haan says — is as omicron cases decline people are going to get out more and start traveling again. Gasoline producers will have trouble keeping up with increased travel, and especially the increased travel associated with Spring vacations.

He expects prices to go up a quarter or more, and stay up through May.

The long-haul, however, looks good. The U.S. Energy Information Institute (EIA) is the federal government’s eye on energy and it tracks energy prices and consumption. The most recent Short Term Energy Outlook was published last week. It said oil and gas prices ought to be dropping over the next two years.

Look for gas price averages to be $3.06 a gallon for most of 2022 and $2.81 a gallon next year in 2023.

Source link: The Seattle Times — https://bit.ly/3Ay5vgr