Rising gas prices
by Pinedale Online!
June 10, 2022
Prices for fuel in Pinedale as of early June are about $2-$3 per gallon higher than a year ago. In June 2021, the national average for regular gas was $3.073 and $3.205 for diesel. Wyoming’s average prices a year ago were $3.116 for regular and $3.374 for diesel.
According to the American Automobile Association, https://gasprices.aaa.com/, increasing crude oil prices means that the price of gas will likely remain elevated for the near future.
A survey of the major media gives an interesting list cited
as factoring into the higher gas prices including: increased
demand due to summer driving season; decrease in the national
fuel supply; the war in Ukraine; the pandemic; Russia; lifting international COVID-19 lockdowns in foreign cities causing increased demand for fuel world-wide; decreased production; supply chain and hiring challenges for oil companies – "oil companies do not want to drill more, they want to boost their share prices" (CNN article; lower refinery capacity; refineries are making more jet fuel instead of regular gasoline; refineries have switched to making their "summer blends" of gasoline which are more expensive; oil producers are exporting supplies rather than meeting domestic demand; a political desire to change American’s driving habits and lifestyle choices; federal government nixing the Keystone Pipeline; President Joe Biden came into office vowing to transition the U.S. economy away from fossil fuels, with a goal of halving emissions from energy use by 2030 and making the U.S. carbon-neutral by 2050 (Kiplinger)
Californian’s are paying an average of $6.420/gallon for regular and $6.973 for diesel as of June 10, 2022, which is their highest ever recorded average according to the AAA.
But don’t despair with the stories about record-breaking gas prices being the highest in U.S. history. According to one article, if you take into account the adjustment for inflation, the average price for gas has actually been higher in the past (2008 when it was $4.11 per gallon). (snopes.com)
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