With the summer driving season in full gear, road-trippers will salivate at the news that the drop in global oil prices may make a difference here in Wisconsin.
“OPEC cut oil production over a year ago, but even in light of that cut in oil production, the U.S. is producing quite a bit. Oil inventories now stand eight percent higher than last year, so rising supply is why oil prices have plummeted,” Patrick DeHaan of Gasbuddy.com told me.
He also said the U.S.-China trade situation may also lead to lower demand, again driving the price down.
“That may slow down the economy. A slower economy generally consumes less oil.”
Some analysts are saying gas prices could conceivably drop below the $2 mark this summer. But DeHaan says, not so fast in our area.
“There are some stations already under $2 a gallon, but I think that would probably stick to areas well off to our south, maybe gulf coast areas where gas taxes are low,” said DeHaan.
Of course, we have our reformulated gas to deal with, but there are other factors to take into account.
“With the discussion over an increase in gas taxes, there’s a possibility we may not see sub-$2 prices later this year.”
