Gas
prices
in the
United
States
fell
below $4
a gallon
on
Thursday,
retreating
to their
lowest
level
since
March, a
drop
that has
brought
relief
to
Americans
struggling
with the
skyrocketing
cost of
everything
from
groceries
to rent.
Photo by
MARCA |
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A fuel
nozzle
in a car
at a
Chevron
gas
station
in
Pinole,
California,
U.S., on
Wednesday,
June 22,
2022.
Photographer:
David
Paul
Morris/Bloomberg
via
Getty
Images
(David
Paul
Morris/Bloomberg
via
Getty
Images) |
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Gas
Prices
in the
U.S.
Fall
Below $4
a Gallon
By
Isabella
Simonetti
nytimes.com
After
peaking
in
mid-June,
they
have
tracked
a global
decline
in oil
prices
and are
back
where
they
were in
March.
The
lower
price of
gas over
the last
month is
a
welcome
change
for
drivers.
Credit...Gabby
Jones
for The
New York
Times
Gas
prices
in the
United
States
fell
below $4
a gallon
on
Thursday,
retreating
to their
lowest
level
since
March, a
drop
that has
brought
relief
to
Americans
struggling
with the
skyrocketing
cost of
everything
from
groceries
to rent.
The
national
average
cost of
a gallon
of
regular
gasoline
now
stands
at
$3.99,
according
to AAA.
That’s
higher
than it
was a
year ago
but
still
well
below a
peak of
nearly
$5.02 in
mid-June.
Energy
costs
feed
into
broad
measures
of
inflation,
so the
drop is
also
good
news for
policymakers
who have
struggled
to
contain
the
price
increases
and for
President
Biden,
who has
pledged
to lower
gas
costs.
The
national
average
includes
a wide
range of
prices,
from
nearly
$5 a
gallon
in
Oregon
and
Nevada
to about
$3.50 in
Texas
and
Oklahoma.
But,
broadly
speaking,
the drop
reflects
a number
of
factors:
weaker
demand,
because
high
costs
have
kept
some
drivers
off the
roads; a
sharp
decline
in
global
oil
prices
in
recent
months;
and the
fact
that a
handful
of
states
have
suspended
taxes on
gasoline.
Regardless
of the
causes,
the
lower
prices
are a
welcome
change
for
drivers
for whom
the
added
expense
— often
$10 to
$15
extra
for a
tank of
gas —
had
become
yet
another
hurdle
as they
sought
to get
their
lives
back to
normal
after
the
coronavirus
pandemic.
“We have
new
rising
diseases
and
inflation,
and
people
expect a
recession,”
said
Zindy
Contreras,
a
student
and
part-time
waitress
in Los
Angeles,
where
gas
prices
are
close to
$5.40 a
gallon.
“If I
just had
to not
worry
about my
gas tank
taking
up $70
that’d
be a
huge
relief,
for
once.”
Ms.
Contreras
has been
filling
up her
2008
Mazda 3
only
halfway
as a
result
of the
higher
prices,
which
has been
costing
her $25
to $30
each
visit to
the
pump,
and she
had
found
opportunities
to
car-pool
with
friends.
These
days,
Ms.
Contreras
usually
gets gas
twice a
week,
driving
15 miles
to and
from
work
each
week and
an
additional
10 to 50
miles a
week,
depending
on her
plans.
“The
affordability
squeeze
is
becoming
very
real
when you
see
these
high
prices
at the
gas
pump,”
said
Beth Ann
Bovino,
the U.S.
chief
economist
at S&P
Global.
“So, in
that
sense,
it’s a
positive
sign
certainly
for
those
folks
that are
struggling.”
That
cushion
— cash
not
spent on
gasoline
that can
go
elsewhere
—
extends
to
businesses,
too,
particularly
as the
price of
diesel
fuel
also
drops.
Diesel,
which is
used to
fuel,
for
instance,
farm
equipment,
construction
machinery
and
long-haul
trucks,
has also
fallen
from a
June
record,
though
at a
slower
pace
than
gasoline
prices.
The drop
in the
price of
gas is
also
good
news for
the
economy,
as
businesses
face
less
pressure
to pass
energy
costs on
to their
customers
— a move
that
would
add to
the
country’s
inflation
problem.
The
government
reported
this
week
that
consumer
price
inflation
slowed
in July
to an
annual
rate of
8.5
percent,
down
from 9.1
percent
in June,
thanks
largely
to the
drop in
gasoline
prices.
If it
persists,
the
slowdown
in
inflation
could
allow
the
Federal
Reserve
to ease
up on
its
campaign
to raise
interest
rates.
It would
also
serve as
a
victory
of sorts
for Mr.
Biden,
who has
spent
recent
weeks
trumpeting
the drop
in
gasoline
prices,
even as
he says
he
expects
to do
more to
bring
costs
down.
Mr.
Biden
has
criticized
oil
companies
for
their
record
profits
from
high oil
and gas
prices,
and this
year he
released
some of
the
nation’s
stockpile
of oil
in an
effort
to keep
prices
from
jumping
too
fast.
“I’m
going to
keep
doing
what I
can to
bring
down the
price of
gas at
the
pump,”
he said
at a
briefing
in late
July.
Even as
they
watch
prices
fall,
economists
and
consumers
say they
wonder
if this
is a
temporary
reversal.
“I’m not
ready
for it
to go a
little
higher
again
and then
I’m over
here
struggling
to fill
up my
tank,”
said
Christina
Beliard,
a
27-year-old
fashion
influencer
in
Bridgeport,
Conn.
Ms.
Beliard
bought a
Jeep
Wrangler
last
year but
now
regrets
the
purchase
because
the
vehicle
is not
as
fuel-efficient
as the
Toyota
Camry
she
drove
before.
For
work,
she
sometimes
needs to
drive to
locations
for her
accounts
on
TikTok
and
Instagram,
platforms
on which
she
promotes
brands,
and to
attend
events
in New
York
City,
which is
about 60
miles
from her
home.
Connecticut
is one
of the
states
that
suspended
their
tax on
gasoline
through
November.
And Ms.
Beliard,
who had
been
spending
from $95
to $100
a week
to fuel
up her
Jeep, is
now
paying
$74 to
$80.
Still,
she is
weary of
the high
tab.
“I’m
trying
to
figure
out, how
long is
this
going to
last?”
she
said.
That’s a
difficult
question
to
answer.
More
than
half the
cost of
gasoline
at the
pump is
determined
by
global
oil
prices,
and
those
are
volatile
and
subject
to
myriad
forces,
many of
which
are hard
to
predict.
Oil
prices
have
tumbled
to their
lowest
point
since
the war
in
Ukraine
began in
February,
a drop
that
reflects
the
growing
concern
of a
global
recession
that
will hit
demand
for
crude.
There
are
several
reasons
that
prices
could
rise
again:
The
course
of the
war
could
further
hamper
global
oil
supplies,
energy
investors’
views on
the
economy
could
change
and
hurricanes
later
this
year
could
damage
Gulf
Coast
refineries
and
pipelines,
choking
off
supplies.
For now,
though,
the
steady
drop
offers a
reprieve
to
Americans
who are
concerned
about
their
finances
as the
economy
slows.
“If
gasoline
prices
stay at
or near
the
levels
they
have
reached,
that
would
mean
much
more
cushion
for
households,”
Ms.
Bovino
said.
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