The price of oil dropped greater than eight percent today, Monday, March 14, 2022 to as low as $99.76 per barrel for West Texas Intermediate crude oil — temporarily crossing below the threshold of $100.00 per barrel — as well as low as $103.68 for a barrel of Brent crude oil, which is one reason why the price for a gallon of gasoline could drop in the near future after skyrocketing to record levels…
Two Reasons to Expect Gasoline Prices to Drop. A Little Bit. Slowly.
…but another reason why you may eventually be paying less money for a gallon of gasoline is because some states have either passed — or are considering passing — measures which would temporarily eliminate the tax which they charge per gallon of gasoline.
For example, the governor of the state of Georgia vowed to sign in to law House Bill 304 — once the General Assembly of Georgia passes it — to temporarily suspend the gasoline tax in order to provide some relief to beleaguered consumers who endure sticker shock at the pump, according to this message which was posted to the official Twitter account of Brian P. Kemp:
Thank you to the Georgia House of Representatives for voting unanimously to pass HB 304 today, helping us bring relief to hardworking Georgians by temporarily halting the state gas tax!
This bill now moves to the Senate, and as soon as it passes, I will sign it into law.— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) March 11, 2022
Discussion and debate are also currently occurring among lawmakers on whether to temporarily suspend the tax which is imposed by the federal government of the United States — but no decision has been reached at the time this article was written.
Reasons Which Are Attributed to the Increase in Fuel Prices
One of the reasons why the cost of a barrel of crude oil — which is refined for use as gasoline in motor vehicles, among other things — is attributed to the hostile invasion of Ukraine by armed military forces of Russia.
Additionally, other factors which have converged and contributed to fuel prices substantially rising in the United States include inflation, the 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic, increased demand for fuel as the start of the summer driving season nears, and the switch to summer blend gasoline from the winter version of the fuel — all of which propelled the average price for a gallon of gasoline in the United States to increase for eleven consecutive weeks to another new record level of $4.325 before stabilizing, according to data from the American Automobile Association.
At one point last week, gasoline prices have reportedly exceeded $9.00 per gallon in California — which currently has the highest fuel prices in the United States — but at the time this article was written, only one fuel station sells gasoline whose price exceeds $8.00 per gallon; and the price exceeds $7.00 per gallon of gasoline at a minimum of five fuel stations.
Final Boarding Call
Getting excited about a potential decrease in the price of a gallon of gasoline can be difficult. One reason is because gasoline prices have been known to increase significantly — as much as 20 cents at a time — like a bullet which was shot out of a gun; while they seem to decrease slower than a feather descending towards the ground while buoyed by a light breeze. Think one or two cents every couple of days or so.
The price of a barrel of crude oil could skyrocket again for various reasons, which could prevent the price of gasoline from decreasing.
Also, gasoline prices have increased substantially enough that any decrease will likely not provide much of a respite or relief…
…but I suppose that any decrease in the price of a gallon of gasoline — if it happens at all — is better than none…
All photographs ©2015, ©2021, and ©2022 by Brian Cohen.
