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    60% Of Americans Can’t Afford Gas As Prices Explode And Stockpiles Collapse



    Once again gasoline stockpiles are falling to alarmingly low levels ahead of the busiest driving season of the year. And that is the perfect recipe for a massive spike in prices over the next few weeks and months, experts say. The increases will come on top of the 20-cent rise in the cost of a gallon of gas seen over the past 30 days. The outlook is quite worrying considering that almost 60% of Americans are struggling to afford prices at the pump, according to a new poll. Production is way down and several factors are adding extra pressure to the oil market right now, signaling more trouble for U.S. businesses and consumers this summer.
    Analysts are warning that U.S. motorists will face a repeat of last summer’s high gasoline prices because fuel stockpiles are heading towards multi-year lows ahead of the peak summer driving season that starts in a couple of months. Retail gasoline prices, now averaging $3.60 a gallon nationwide, hit a record $5.02 a gallon last June as crude oil prices jumped due to dwindling inventories. 
    In the past month, the cost of a gallon of gas rose on average by 20 cents, with some U.S. counties reporting a 36-cent increase, AAA data shows. At the same time, vehicle travel in the U.S. remains 5.6% higher than last year, which resulted in a drop in gasoline stockpiles for five straight weeks.
    In fact, Reuters reports that last week’s 6 million-barrel drawdown was the biggest since September 2021, leaving national gas inventories at 229.6 million barrels, their lowest for this time of the year since 2015, according to weekly government data. “We are in danger of going below 200 million barrels of gasoline storage for the first time in many years,” stressed Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.
    On Monday, the U.S. price of oil rose 6 percent, after OPEC announced plans to sharply cut production starting in May. The organization informed that it will slash oil production by more than a million barrels a day starting next month, a move that experts say could seriously impact gas prices in the U.S. To make things even more complicated, in March, U.S. oil production plummeted as a result of the banking crisis and concerns about an economic recession that would reduce fuel demand.
    All of these factors are weighing on the outlook for prices this summer. GasBuddy forecasted that the production slowdown would cause oil prices to rise by $6 a barrel. At the pump, this could be translated into another 20-cent rise per gallon next week. On the same note, Peter McNally, an industrial materials and energy expert for Third Bridge, predicts a steeper increase, closer to 30 cents per gallon. They’re right, gas prices could reach $4 a gallon before the end of April.
    Given that demand increased slightly from 9.15 to 9.3 million barrels a day, according to new data from the Energy Information Administration, this means that we’re only holding 21 days of supply on our domestic reserves. That’s extremely tight.
    Meanwhile, Americans are doing what they can to get by, and that often means cutting back on spending. The latest Monmouth University Poll, released last Thursday, found that a majority (or 58%) say it’s difficult to afford gas right now. Since December, the number of people who have had difficulty paying for gasoline has increased by 10 points, the poll results showed. This supply and demand imbalance is going to hit crisis levels this summer and you shouldn’t be surprised if fuel shortages came back too, turning the outlook from worrying to downright terrifying in a few short months.

    View 48 Comments

    48 Comments

    1. Pura Vida on

      I'm a U.S. expat in Central America, we follow what the locals are doing. Drive less, walk more, and consolidate shopping trips and vacation trips.

    8. True Lies on

      Get ready now for $5, $6, $7, $8, $9, $10 gasoline coming this summer. It will start to get bad around Memorial day and all summer and beyond. Good luck all.

    9. Someone Out-there on

      It's OK folks, if you start falling behind in bills and start running the risk of losing everything, just harass the gay community that has nothing to do with the real issues against our country. I'm sure it will help you. 🤡🤡🤡

    11. Nona Yabizness on

      They are sucking every last cent of money that we have out of us to try and make us suffer even more before everything falls apart everywhere my husband and I go people are angry and scared of what this idiot president and the traitors in his cabinet are doing. More people are waking up every single day because a hundred dollars at the grocery store now buys nothing and all they want to do is talk to Americans like they are ignorant children. They encourage riots and hate between races all so people are not looking at them or directing their anger at them but I honestly can’t wait until the people that they have been using see through their BS and go after the people that they should have been all along and I hope it happens when and where I’m able to get a front row seat. We all know that in history radical governments that have done this always go after their most loyal and useful idiots first because they have been doing their dirty work for them and they expect something in return and they never get it . I hope I get to see this all and I pray my very young grandchildren get to live in a free country again and that the American people are not foolish enough to fall for the lies anymore.

    12. Proud AM on

      I just bought a 2023 GMC Sierra 3500 HD Denali……it has a 6.6L V-8 Duramax Turbo-Diesel Engine……no electric vehicle right now even comes close to this…….I also own a 2019 Lexus GX 460 4.6L V8, 2021 BMW X3 2.0L Turbo, 2022 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid……not enough charging stations for me to switch to EV anytime soon.

    13. Seventh child on

      Thankful i still have my 2011 Kia RIO, paid for, 66,700 miles…well maintained ..NO issues so far. Brought it from ENTERPRISE 2012 with 30,000 miles!..

    17. JYo on

      When prices get out of hand how do the people in the government get gas when the American people can’t. And food when there’s suppose to be a shortage.

    22. Rick Picone on

      None of this would be happening had Moe not shut down our pipelines. All because of their push for communism. A government takeover of your life and everything you own.

    23. Jake Little on

      Ever since Brexit and Trump, the English world were targets. We were conned into weaponizing our dollar and abusing our allies for not joining the EU war. The world's biggest producers of steel is the EU but they insist we kill our industry and survive on windmills. We need to leave NATO, close our overseas bases and repair America.

    24. Shawn Hampshirehick on

      Guess y'all Forgetting that ⛽ gas in the south was $5.30$ in July 2022.
      Oil reached $100$ a barrel in June. $5$ a gallon is the benchmark for 2022. Yes the Saudi OPEC is working with the administration & the green movement. Get Ready to Submit.

    31. 47PANADERO on

      The conventional aim of higher interest rates is to reduce demand and cause a recession to bring inflation down. But the oil price is not playing ball. What the economists do not tell you is that once the global economy recovers, oil demand will accelerate.The pessimism (realism) of Epic Economist for the longer term economic outlook is therefore well justified.

    33. Sam k on

      I have an idea, but no one will do it. Quit driving for a week and watch what happens to gas prices let’s go on strike people.! 🎉😅
      And don’t say you can do it because everybody was f)&ked up in Covid

    34. Mark Guidry on

      With all the Boomers retiring and the rise of empty nester households and remote work shouldn’t there be less fuel consumption taking place. On top of that allot of more hybrids and ev vehicles in use? The move away from truck ownership and use is steadily going up as prices at the pump become expensive

    37. Perry Meyer on

      Yup – wealth transfer in action… just ahead of our dollar devaluation. I wonder what these companies are going to do with all their worthless toilet paper? Getting close to having to dip into credit card territory to feed my family. Or take a 2nd job.

    41. Terri Scott on

      Thumbs-Down – Using your Special Effects of flashing spots in your video, is a distraction! You have the right to use this effect. I have the right to rate this with a Thumbs-Down rating! Enjoy.

    43. oatis b. driftwood on

      People are paying more for gas, because of the greedy idiots that run the system. If they act like a greedy pig, then their a greedy pig. The whole reason America is failing, is because of greedy, lying pigs, and they don't even try to hide it any more. Turn on the national news, you'll see all kinds of greedy pigs. They come dressed in suits and dress suits. That care nothing about the people they are being paid to represent, What a joke.

    47. D H on

      The Dems and RINOs want America destroyed. Once America is destroyed, their Chinese masters will give them ruling power under China.

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