Gas Prices 2022: When Will Fuel Costs Go Down?
Recent surges in gas prices have had many RVers rethinking their summer vacations plans. A lot of us will be staying closer to home this summer. Many RVers are even forgoing their summer RV travel plans entirely. But recent drops in oil prices already have gas prices dropping in most areas of the country, with the exception of California, where they have increased by 8 cents.
According to AAA, the current national average for a gallon of regular gas is $4.27, six cents cheaper than it was a week ago. In California, the price of a gallon of gas climbed to 5.80. They are still nowhere near normal prices, but it’s a little relief for now. But how long will these lower fuel prices last?
What causes fluctuations in gas prices?
Supply and demand
The vast majority of the increase in gas prices is a direct result of an increase in oil prices. Oil prices fluctuate with the supply and demand for oil products.
The pandemic
During the pandemic, people traveled less. The result was a reduced demand for oil and fairly stable oil prices, which were reflected in stable prices at the pump. The end of the pandemic saw people going back to work and getting back to traveling more than they did in the pandemic years. This resulted in a greater demand for oil products, and prices shot up phenomenally.
The war in Ukraine
Most people know that the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine is creating an increased demand for fuel in much of Western Europe. A recent development in the conflict is the complete withdrawal of USA-owned Halliburton company from Russia.
Halliburton joins the 2 other American-owned oilfield technology suppliers who have already withdrawn from Russia due to sanctions. Halliburton has already ceased shipments of machinery and parts that were integral to Russia’s ability to continue producing oil. This will definitely reduce the amount of oil Russia is able to produce. Since Russia is one of the world’s leading oil producers, the result on world oil prices could be significant.
Weather events
Any event that reduces gasoline production capacities at refineries will have a negative impact on gasoline supplies. Low gasoline supplies mean higher gas prices at the pump. February’s winter storm in Texas saw refinery utilization plunge from 83% down to 56%. By the beginning of March, the result of this was higher gas prices.
When will gas prices go down?
While prices may be reduced by a little for the coming months, summer will see increased demand for fuel. This is only because people travel more in the summer months.
The Russia’s ongoing war and decreased production of oil will also increase the demand for oil products, including gasoline. Prices for gasoline should ease a bit by November 2022 as domestic demand eases and winter gas blends become available.
Winter gas is cheaper to produce, so that tends to be reflected in the price. Over the long term, we won’t hold our breath for gas prices to come down to anywhere near historic averages.
How to save money on fuel
Gas Buddy
Now is a better time than ever to look for ways to save on fuel. GasBuddy is an easy-to-use app that you can download onto your phone. You just give it a location and it will come up with a list of local gas stations and prices.
Plan your trips with RV LIFE Pro
It’s also a great idea to plan your trips ahead of time with RV LIFE Pro. By using RV LIFE Trip Wizard to plan your trips in detail, you’ll know exactly when and where you will need fuel for your RV or truck. You can also vet those fuel stops with satellite and street view to make sure you can get in and out safely and back on the road.
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You are skipping the main real cause of the increase – – investors! When the invest in oil futures at double or triple the true valve of crude, the prices to protect them skyrocket like nothing else!
Why did you omit the primary reason for fuel price increase, the fact that Biden on day 1 stopped the Keystone pipeline and oil production and franking, but then begs OPEC to pump more oil to bring the price of oil down.
We were and can be an oil independent nation if it were not for some who think plugging into an electrical out is free without a wander as to where the power comes from. Wind and solar is nowhere close to being a viable resource to where we can close down our fossel fuel power plants. Stop blaming covid and the Russian/Ukraine war and put the blame back on our incompetent government where it belongs. As far as when will prices come back down, don’t hold your breath. I doubt we will ever see gas under $3 a gallon again.
Nice article but you left out the political side. The present Administration is bound on killing the oil industry fossil fuel is out with them. Because of that they have made decisions that have previous to all of the natural and man-made disasters that we are facing change the price of gas when they became the administration in power.
Russia only produces 4% of oil for world export, with the bulk of that going to Europe. How about we tell the truth instead of making it sound as if Russia is to blame for the increase.
Greed is the root cause. Any chance for corporations to make a bigger profit will happen at the expense of consumers. In this case it was the stock market that started the increase to oil.
The whole world economy runs off of oil. Cargo ships, airplanes, trains, farm tractors and 18 wheel trucks all use oil as fuel. And lots of it. When fuel prices go up, they charge more to deliver the commercial supplies. Then, the retailer’s charge more to cover their price increase to receive the goods. Which of course, has the prices we pay for those good go up in price. The whole price increase only effects the end user. Yep that’s the people, you and I.
And once the prices of fuel go up the economies start to collapse. This then causes inflation. Our dollar value tanks.
That……is the real story.
Why no mention of the shutdown of oil production in the US? We went from energy independent to heavily dependent on foreign oil.
What about the decrease in oil production domestically? Wake up!
You did leave out one very important point here, the current policy on oil of no new permits and additional regulations pertaining to drilling, processing and use of oil is the main reason for price increase as it made bringing additional U.S. oil to the market place dramatically more difficult.
It is interesting there is no mention that the hostile actions toward our country’s fuel producers by current administration policies are having an adverse effect on supply and fuel prices.
Your gas cost report is good information but simply missing one topic. Everyone knows that political environment also alters gas pricing. Your article does not discuss the current administration view on domestic produced oil. This view and position has made the U.S. dependent on foreign oil. This dependency is why we are affected by the Russian oil situation. Inflation and gas prices are a direct result of policy changes which are aided by the topics in your article. I suggest an amendment to your artical so to include all the facts.
Regardless of which side of the isle you are on,the is no disputing the fact that policy has a huge effect on inflation. This is especially true for the domestic oil production.
I disagree with you. The reason gas prices are so high is because we stopped drilling and USA is NOT energy independent anymore.