Transportation
BY BEN THOMPSON
Global, seasonal trends prompt summer gas price swings Central Texas consumers are contending with a hot summer at the gas pump with prices gradu- ally rising—although costs have yet to reach the highs of last year’s spike.
Summer step-up While gas prices are well below levels seen last summer, Austin-area motorists may have noticed some daily variety and a steady climb through the summer so far.
Over the past year, the Austin area and the U.S. as a whole experienced one of the biggest gas price swings of the past decade, according to data from GasBuddy, a company that tracks gas prices. Prices have seen less variation this summer, but motorists may see more day-to-day adjust- ments thanks to a heat wave, seasonal travel and higher-level market disruptions. Zooming in After dipping to extreme lows at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, gas prices steadily rose through 2020 and 2021 before peaking in late spring 2022, hitting a high of around $5 per gallon nationally by mid-June 2022. The Austin area reached about $4.60, according to GasBuddy data. Since then, gas prices declined. This spring and summer, local prices hovered above $3 but are now climbing toward $3.50 per gallon. What they’re saying “We started o the summer a little bit cheaper than where we are now,” said Daniel Armbruster, a public a airs specialist with AAA Texas, an emergency road service. “In the last month, it’s bounced back and forth a little bit which is kind of what’s happened everywhere.” Zooming out Analysts said seasonal trends—gas prices traditionally rise in the summer—combined with recent national and global events are contrib- uting to price uctuations, including Russia’s
Weekly average Austin-area gas prices
$5
Prices have held relatively steady through the summer but began climbing in late July.
$4.50
$4
$3.50
$3
Gas prices hit their highest levels in the past decade in June 2022.
$2.50
$0
SOURCE: AAA TEXAS COMMUNITY IMPACT
invasion of Ukraine and oil production cuts by Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Coun- tries members and allies. Ed Hirs, a University of Houston Energy Fellow and energy economist, said OPEC production cut- backs appear to have the most noticeable impact on crude oil prices and costs at the pump. The University of Texas nance professor Ehud Ronn said the price of oil climbed steadily through July, an almost 20% increase in the past month. Looking ahead Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis
at GasBuddy, said he’s not optimistic that drivers are in line for immediate relief at the pump for seasonal price drops in the fall because of global oil production trends and a potentially active hurricane season. “The next few weeks as we close summer, I think there may be some upward pressure, and then I’m hopeful that sometime this fall we might start to see some downward pressure because of the seasonal changes,” he said. Armbruster said demand usually falls after Labor Day with the switch over to winter-blend gasoline, which is a little cheaper to produce.
Dustin Kiker, M.D. Gastroenterologist Cedar Park, TX Jean Mbachu, M.D. Gastroenterologist Cedar Park, TX Sooraj Tejaswi, M.D. Gastroenterologist Cedar Park, TX Lilah Mansour, M.D. Gastroenterologist Cedar Park, TX
Our Providers
Rafael Amaro, M.D. Gastroenterologist Cedar Park, TX Junaid Siddiqui, M.D. Gastroenterologist Cedar Park, TX
NEW LOCATION IN CEDAR PARK & LAMPSAS
Texas Digestive Disease Consultants 1411 Medical Parkway, Suite 200 Cedar Park, TX 78613 (512) 341-0900
TDDC (Lampasas) 207 West Ave E Lampasas, TX 76550 (512) 341-0900
Now accepting new patients
Ryan Cho, M.D. Gastroenterologist Cedar Park, TX
Visit TDDCTX.COM for more information
20
COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
Powered by FlippingBook