By Josh Resnek
Gasoline prices are down about $1.50 a gallon from an all-time high of $5 a gallon during the early summer.
At Everett’s half dozen or so public gasoline stations, prices for a gallon can vary widely by as much as .35 cents to .50 cents a gallon.
Consumers should take notice of the higher priced gasoline as it is no different than the lower priced gallons.
The only difference is what the retailer of the gasoline believes he or she can charge for the product with consumers still willing to pay.
The large downward swing in price for a gallon of gasoline is a natural outcome of the market place which is based on supply and demand.
Whether you are on Broadway Everett or driving a car in England or France, if demand is outstripping supply, then prices remain higher.
Prices have fallen in the United States from coast to coast because we are an energy rich nation, with huge
reserves, and enough production capacity to meet the demands of the driving public at least during the present period.
The US is not a victim of supply chain interruptions.
The war in Ukraine has caused a huge disruption in natural gas deliveries to Europe from Russia, with heating fuel prices soaring through the roof with no end in sight.
Europeans pay far more than Americans for gasoline because Europe produces very little oil. Most of the gasoline used in Europe is imported. This causes the price for gasoline to be naturally higher because of the supply and demand doctrine.
Another factor effecting the price for gasoline here is that President Joe Biden has been releasing 1 million barrels a day from the national petroleum reserve into the American fuel marketplace, and this has caused more oil to be in the pipeline making up for higher demand during the summer months and into the early fall.
In addition, the reduction in the per gallon price we are now experiencing at the gas pump is directly impacted by anti-inflationary efforts being wielded by government agencies, primary among them, the Federal Reserve Board.
Interest rates have been substantially hiked in order to kill job creation and the expansion of the economy which is causing the inflation.
This will dull the need for fuel and so, per gallon fuel prices will ultimately continue declining although heating fuel here in the Northeast will be outrageous because of the seasonal demand always causing heating fuel to rise.