The price of a barrel of oil is now under $67 dollars after cresting at nearly $85 in late October. While that will push down your price at the pump over time it likely won’t happen in time for the Christmas holiday.
“We know that crude oil prices make up about 50%-60% of what drivers pay at their local gas station, but it is too early to tell if this is going to translate into savings for drivers,” said AAA Fuel Analyst Nick Chabarria. “While of course, it may be good news for drivers that crude oil is coming down they shouldn’t expect prices at the pump to change overnight.”
The average statewide for a gallon of gas sits at $3.38, just two cents down from where it was a month ago. The arrival of Omicron sent oil prices plummeting, down nearly $15 since last Friday.
Chabarria said part of the problem is that your local gas station already paid pre-Omicron prices for their gas.
“Of course the gas stations and distributors are purchasing oil and gasoline at a certain price so that is going to take some time to trickle down to drivers,” said Chabaria who added the biggest remaining question is whether or not this new variant will cause a new round of travel restrictions or shutdowns. “That seems to be what everybody is watching right now, how countries are going to respond to this new variant, we have already seen some travel restrictions in some of those areas where the variant has been identified and started to take hold.”
