Why is the cost of gas so high?

As of late, the prices of gas have gone up significantly and so have the number of people talking about it. One may wonder what might’ve happened to cause the price of gas to increase as a result, however there are more reasons than one as to why.

When asked what she thinks the reasons are for why gas prices are so high, local parent Carla Gonzalez responded with, “Prices are so high for gas probably because of the [Russia and Ukraine] conflicts since [Russia] are big suppliers of gas.”  She gives more reason as to the change in costs: “The pandemic also made prices go up since a ton of people stayed home.” Both of the reasons she gave are correct, there have been many issues as a result of COVID restrictions and the international conflicts.

Crude oil, which is oil before it’s turned into refined oil, has a value that has gone down due to a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Although Russian oil is currently less pricey than Saudi Arabia’s “OPEC” oil, the United States was not as frequent consumers of Russian oil than other areas such as countries in Europe or China. This has been in action ever since the invasion Russia executed on Ukraine; there has been a ban on purchasing Russian oil in the U.S. from President Joe Biden. The lack of people purchasing gas during the pandemic resulted in oil producers to reducing their production of said oil, as they stayed home and had less of a need for gasoline.

The prices of gasoline have averaged out at about $4.30, which is remarkable compared to the average price of $4.10 in 2008, the information that the prices were $4.10 in 2008 is significant due to 2008 being a year of recession. This cost was further supported by the fact of investors being unwilling to invest in oil and drilling due to related bankruptcy. Excluding 12 states, all states (especially California) have reached average costs of gas to be over $4, and even diesel costing over $6.  California now has a statewide average of $5.83 per gallon.

Even though COVID-19 restrictions are gradually being loosened, the ban on Russian oil imports caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has no signs of ending soon. Due to the low chance of discussed issues being resolved in the near future, there likely won’t be much improvement regarding the price of gas.