If you have a road trip planned for this summer, better start saving now: Bloomberg says gas prices are currently 60% higher than they were in 2020, and there’s no relief in sight for your pain at the pump.
A combination of refinery closures, Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil facilities, Western sanctions on Russia and attacks on the Red Sea from Houthi rebels have combined to send petroleum prices through the roof just in time for summer driving season.
And President Biden previously dipping into the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an attempt to keep prices low means there won’t be enough supply to meet what forecasters are predicting will be high demand, oil experts tell the publication.
Mukesh Sahdev, the head of oil trading and downstream research at Rystad Energy AS, explains, “There’s not a lot President Biden can do in time for the election, if this happens. Strategic petroleum reserves are low, and there are few levers for the US government to pull to lower gasoline prices.”
Happy motoring.