GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Volatile oil prices on the global market are causing drastic fluctuations in gas prices here at home. So what exactly can we expect heading into the summer?
Green Bay gas prices are up 18-cents over the last week, and that raises concern for many ahead of the summer driving season. Gasbuddy Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick De Haan says it’s almost impossible to predict when prices could dip again.
“We only can foresee so far ahead, and with all these uncertain factors, that makes it even more difficult. A lot of this is now wading into geopolitical issues and trying to take a best guess on what could theoretically happen,” De Haan told WTAQ News. “The only thing that has been certain is uncertainty, lately.”
Those geopolitical issues include European Union sanctions proposed against Russia.
“A lot of this has to do with oil prices that, last week, jumped $9 barrel to about $111 on concerns that the EU is going to sanction Russian oil,” De Haan said. “They’re gonna have to find 4.5 million barrels that exist somewhere else. The problem is, it doesn’t. Nobody has the spare capacity, so oil prices last week jumped…That’s why we’re seeing some of this volatility as oil prices have been moving up and down in significant fashion.”
Other global issues include the potential for an economic slowdown in the United States and COVID cases again rising in China, which could have another major impact on global consumption if any restrictions were to return in that country. That global fluctuation has a stranglehold on dictating the prices.
“Yesterday they declined significantly, but it’s tough to know if that will last beyond a few days…Aside from trying to reduce your own consumption and find it cheaper, motorists are kind of powerless to do much,” De Haan said. “There’s not a lot motorists can do. Try shopping around when filling their tank and trying to drive more fuel efficiently, therefore getting more miles out of the tank are some of the ways to reduce the impact. But beyond that, we’re all very much susceptible to fluctuations in prices.”
De Haan says reducing demand at a higher level could make an impact, but it’s not particularly likely ahead of the summer season.
“Reducing demand, when done at a high level, like if the entire nation were to be able to reduce our demand by 5 or 10 percent, that would be huge,” De Haan said. “We can get out of this much better if we just did a little something like driving more efficiently. That’s all it takes. I’m not asking anyone to stay home this summer, but just slowing down a couple miles an hour when multiplied over the entire number of U. S. drivers can go a long way.”
You can search for prices at gas stations near you at GasBuddy.com.
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