If you’re happy to see lower gas prices lately, you’ll be happier to hear that there’s no sign in the short term that prices will rise.
Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service says it’s a matter of supply and demand. “We certainly are on an upward ramp with supply and supply of crude, particularly oil shale crude, like the stuff that’s coming out of the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas,” Kloza says.
And demand is falling. “We are watching a behavioral change with the public, he says. “We’re seeing less driving per vehicle and less driving per person than we used to.”
Part of the reason is that for some, the lower prices are not low enough.
“There’s a lot of folks who live paycheck to paycheck who have to change their behaviors when prices are simply above $3, and we’ve seen that in the last couple of years,” Kloza says.
For now, prices are lower than last week, last month and last year. Kloza says the trend should continue until we get into the height of hurricane season, when a storm could damage refineries on the Gulf Coast.
“It’s clear sailing until maybe August or September, and then it’s cross your fingers like we do every tropical season.”
