STATEWIDE — Gas prices are sure to be affected by the recent news of the death of an Iranian general by U.S. missile strikes in Iraq.
President Trump authorized the attack that killed Gen. Qassim Soleimani as he was traveling on a road close to the Baghdad International Airport. Petroleum analyst Patrick Dehaan with Gas Buddy says right now gas price won’t go up too much.
“Thankfully we’ve become less reliant on that Middle Eastern crude oil in the last decade,” DeHaan said. “In fact, as we enter this decade U.S. oil production has increased by 7.5 million barrels. That acts as an insulator to these types of incidents.”
He said you can still expect a slight increase it wait you pay for at the pump this week. But, DeHaan warns any significant increase could come with how and if Iran decides to retaliate.
“Right now oil prices are reacting based on the uncertainty that lies ahead,” he added. “Once we have a better idea of the response we’ll have a better picture of what that could do to oil prices.”
Right now the average price for a barrel of oil is about $60. Gas prices in Indiana are averaging around $2.49 a gallon for unleaded.
(PHOTO: bizoo-n/Thinkstock)
