STATEWIDE–Gas prices are expected to keep going down in the coming days.
“The decline in gas prices will likely continue until new Covid cases slow down. Beyond Christmas, with omicron cases likely to continue climbing, I do believe we’ll see a more noticeable hit on gasoline demand once the holidays are over. The U.S. isn’t issuing lockdowns, but we’re seeing lockdowns overseas. That has an immediate impact on global oil consumption,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.
DeHaan says the omicron variant makes things tricky.
“It makes it hard to determine the timing because it eats away at the price of oil occasionally only to see the price of oil jump back up,”
Even though Triple-A and GasBuddy are both expecting millions of Americans to either travel or fly to their destinations for Christmas or New Year’s, DeHaan says demand will still be low.
“While motorists are taking to the roads and others are taking to the skies, they are also going to be parking at their destination. which ultimately leads to lower demand,” said DeHaan.
Several cities in Indiana have had some of the biggest gas price declines in the country. To find the cheapest gas, DeHaan urges you to “shop around.”
“It’s not when you fill up, but where you fill up. Across Indianapolis, for example, there are stations selling it for $2.79 and others are selling it for $3.45,” said DeHaan.
DeHaan says there could be a brief price cycle next week where prices go up slightly for a brief period of time because stations have been taking a hit for so long.
“I don’t think you’ll see the highest price stations go up, but you could see some of the lowest price stations go up. If I had to guess at this point, I would guess maybe to mid to late next week (for an upcoming price cycle),” said DeHaan.
LISTEN: Full Interview with DeHaan
