Gas Prices See Fifth Straight Week of Gains, Head Towards $4/Gallon

GAsoline
Prices
These prices are rising and may soon be at $4 per gallon.
Drivers
To start paying more for fuel, after enjoying falling prices for most 2022’s second half.

GasBuddy data shows that the national average price for retail gasoline increased for the fifth consecutive Sunday. The reason? Higher oil prices and lower utilization of refineries. The national average gasoline price is now at $3.49 per gallon. This represents a 33.3-cent increase over a month ago.

BIDEN OIL RESSERVE REFILL PLAN DOESN’T WORK, INDUSTRY GROUPE TOLD ADMINISTRATION

Oil
Has seen steady gains
According to the Energy Information Administration, refineries have operated at 86.1% or less during that same time period since Winter Storm Elliot struck during Christmas week.

The European Union’s outlook is another factor that could impact prices in the future.
Impending embargo on Russian petroleum product imports
China’s growing demand

Patrick De Haan from GasBuddy, head of petroleum analysis, stated that completion of the delayed refinery maintenance in America will also play a role.

“There appears to be little good news on the gas price front, with prices unlikely to turn around any time soon. Many refineries that had originally planned maintenance this spring were forced to postpone it until 2023 because of the recent price rise,” De Haan wrote in a weekly Market Note.

“With the can kicked to this year, we may have similar challenges producing enough refined products to meet demand, especially with the European Union cutting off refined products from Russia starting February 5,” he added.

The rise in fuel prices is a return to the Biden administration that devoted much attention and political capital throughout 2022 when the national average was above $5 per gallon.

In the second half, fuel prices plummeted along with falling oil prices. There were a few weekly rises in between. This was something that the administration took as credit.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve can be used
.

Recently, the national average dropped for seven consecutive week between November and January, and it reached its lowest level since February 2022 before the conflict in Ukraine. This trend began to reverse in January.

Last year, after the Department of Energy began selling and drawing down reserve oil in accordance to President Joe Biden’s emergency order, the administration stated that it could pursue additional releases by the SPR if warranted.

Due to Biden’s emergency drawdowns, and other non-emergency sales, the reserve’s contents have dropped by more than 41% since Biden took office. The war in Ukraine and the impact it had on oil prices led to most of the barrels being drawn down and sold.

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DOE issued one solicitation in December to replenish the reserve. It rejected all offers, claiming that they did not meet department specifications and/or the desired purchase price.

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