Posted on 10/11/2021 4:18:01 PM PDT by MNJohnnie
U.S. gas prices rose on Columbus Day to $3.27 a gallon, a new 7-year-high.
The cost of a gallon keeps rising, with some experts saying no drop is in sight.
The primary drive is the climbing price of crude oil, analysts say.
That accounts for between 50 percent and 60 percent of the price of gas for drivers, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA) spokesman Andrew Gross.
“And last week’s decision by OPEC and its oil-producing allies to not increase production further only exacerbated the upward momentum for crude oil prices,” Gross said in a statement.
AAA pegged the national average for a gallon at $3.18 on Sept. 30, $3.20 on Oct. 4, and $3.21 on Oct. 7.
Washington saw the biggest jump over the past week at 17 cents. Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Michigan, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Illinois, and Delaware prices per gallon also increased by 10 cents or more.
Data compiled by GasBuddy, which receives price reports from over 150,000 stations across the country, had the average price per gallon at $3.25 on Monday. Diesel’s average rose about 10 cents per gallon in the last week and was at $3.45.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for the price tracker, also pegged OPEC’s decision as stoking the latest rise.
OPEC opted last week to stick to its pact for a gradual increase in oil output.
“The OPEC decision caused an immediate reaction in oil prices, and amidst what is turning into a global energy crunch, motorists are now spending over $400 million more on gasoline every single day than they were just a year ago,” De Haan said in a statement.
Prices shot up earlier this year when Colonial Pipeline took offline the nation’s largest pipeline in response to a hack and have remained above $3 for most of the time since.
Other contributing factors include cuts to production early in the pandemic and a dearth of fuel truck drivers as other jobs prove more attractive, according to experts. The situation was exacerbated by oil producing countries, largely in the Middle East, choosing not to ramp up production.
Europeans and Asians have seen energy shortages and blackouts over the summer and Americans could see the same this winter, one top energy executive recently warned.
West Texas International, a major type of crude oil, increased by $1.05 late Friday to end the trading session at $79.35.
The Biden administration hoped to pressure OPEC into boosting production but has thus far failed in its campaign.
Daniel Yergin, a historian who studies oil, said Monday on Bloomberg that the United States will likely keep trying to persuade the countries.
“Joe Biden knows that high gasoline prices are not good for incumbents,” said Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit. “We’ll certainly be hearing more from the administration.”
FJB
I saw $4.09 (for premium) last weekend in one of Boston’s rich suburbs.
it’s the kind of thing when drooling idjits get put in charge ...
Democrats started the shortchanges and now they’ll sit back and wait , state of emergency is a coming
No mention at all of the Biden Democrat's anti Fossil Fuel jihad
did it happen to be in Cambridge, the place of residence of Fauxcahauntus, Harvard Law School’s first faculty member of color?
Living the Life in Bidenville.
Well fortunately I don’t fill up my SUV that often so I don’t feel the sting those traveling to work every day do. But obvious that’s hurting a lot of people.
Let’s Go Brandon!
I have to fill up once a week, no choice commuting to hooterville.
60 miles round trip. I take it easy on the pedal.
Prices may never again be lower than they are today. Not hyperbole.
Who didn’t see that coming a mile down the road?
TX Gas Buddy prices are $2.50-$2.89.
I bet you do....sorry you have that addition expense....and anyone who travels distance to work.
I worked in Ohio and my travel was 50 miles round trip. But afforded me wages that mad it worth while and then some. After moving to PA my drive was 15 minutes.
My son got his dream car, a mustang gt. When gas was low and Trump was pres. He loves the car but drives to work every day In it. The car has the cool, “Money MoneyMoney vroom” sound to it when at a stop light.
He is feeling the pinch.
Thank you Joe!
Trump made everything about life easier and more fun....people had the sense they were working to keep their wages rather than farm it all into the government coffers for illegals and foreign countries to build their countries up. We were finally free to invest and build our own........certainly that’s limited now. Everything has Biden’s criminal hands on it.
Thank Joe for the high prices. Killing the Keystone Pipeline is causing a distribution problem far beyond just high distillate fuel prices. Those prices are rippling through the system and won’t change until President Stupid reverse his stance on Keystone.
Why did he do it? Follow the money. A big Biden contributor happens to own the only rail line that goes from the North Dakota oil fields to the refineries in the Mississippi Delta. So who’s responsible? I’ll give you a hint: Warren Buffet. Biden would sell his own mother for the right price.
He loves his OPEC.
I’m not one of the work from home types, infrastructure and hands on type.
If I do the WFH, the tickets and cell phone come to life. I have no alternate where I am. Just the way it is. I hate tickets and voice mail.
My queue stays in the single digits usually because I am waiting on something to be delivered.
Every so often I put in for something else, no prayer of advancement. Maybe one will pan out but there are far worse slots than where I am. I’ve been in several.
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