GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — Gas prices are spiking to levels nobody in the United States has ever seen. In Brown County gas prices are at around $4.36 on average, it’s a little cheaper in the Fox Valley. Nationwide average stands around $4.62 a gallon.
Many states, like neighboring Illinois, are already averaging above five dollars a gallon. In California, it’s over six dollars a gallon. But will will see prices that high? The answer, from AAA’s Nick Jarmusz, is a resounding “maybe”.
“I think it’s possible. How probable it is, I wouldn’t put any percentage behind it,” Jarmusz told WTAQ. “But I think just based on where we’ve been, it’s entirely possible that we could get up that high.”
That is going to result in changes to demand. High gas prices may suddenly put previously planned trips outside the realm of financial desirability for some.
“Four dollars has historically been the magic number for people to consider gas ‘high’ and that they need to account for that,” explained Jarmusz.
We’re way past that.
With the busy travel season ahead along with continued supply issues, Jarmusz says there’s no way to predict just how high prices will go.
“We’re seeing historically high levels…and it’s really about the continued imbalance between supply and demand,” said Jarmusz. “Oil is a globally traded commodity, so if there are supply chain disruptions anywhere around the world, it’s going to have a ripple effect.”
Most recently, the European Union placed sanctions on Russian oil imports over the continued invasion of Ukraine.
Gas prices are now over 400% higher than during 2020 lows.
Prices at a Green Bay gas station on April 22nd, 2020 (WTAQ/Rob Sussman)
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