STATEWIDE — Gas prices have gone down in Indiana in recent days, a trend that could continue says GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan. “For now, over the next 24 to 48 hours prices should continue to inch downward,” says De Haan.
Oil prices were down as well, nearing the same level they were at before Russia invaded Ukraine. De Haan thinks the drop in cost could be a result more COVID concerns and inflation.
“There’s been a renewed level of concern about COVID cases surging in China where there have been new lock downs and restrictions which generally leads to demand destruction for oil,” said De Haan. “Not only that, but economists have been raising the flag that potentially the U.S. economy could be headed for recession in the months ahead based off rampant inflation and rising interest rates. For that reason oil prices have been plummeting here to start the week.”
The average cost for gas in Indiana is $3.98, which De Haan says is close to the national average. In Indianapolis, the average is 3.93, down nearly 11 cents from where it was last week.
As far as the future is concerned, projecting where prices could go next isn’t easy to predict.
“That’s a big question. There’s a lot these factors that are pushing oil down today could reverse down the line including the number of COVID cases in China, and the Russia Ukraine situation, which is not really an active role today in oil prices, but it could flair up if they’re any escalations. So that’s the million dollar question, oil prices could change as quick as the wind changes direction especially if some of the economic news is a little bit more bullish in the days ahead.”
