Gas Prices in Wyoming Continue to Fluctuate as Demand Rises
On Nov. 8, GasBuddy released their weekly figures for gas prices in Wyoming, which showed that prices have fallen two cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.42 a gallon.
Gas prices in Wyoming were 3.4 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stood $1.29 a gallon higher than a year ago, with the lowest price in Wyoming at $2.85 a gallon while the highest is $3.99 a gallon.
The reason for the large jump in prices now compared to last year is due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which made people much less likely to travel, thus caused gas prices to be lower due to the decrease in demand.
This in turn caused oil production to slow down, leading to 107 oil and gas companies declaring bankruptcy, the most since 2016, and since then production has been slow to recover.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy said:
"We should see small declines this week in a majority of the country, thanks to the corresponding drop in wholesale gasoline prices. At OPEC's monthly meeting last week, the cartel held firm to the small increases they agreed to in July, raising November production by 400,000 barrels per day. With President Biden still mulling over options to help push gas prices down, we could continue to see some volatility in oil prices. I don't immediately see a large decline or surge coming in the run up to Thanksgiving, but U.S. gasoline demand does remain strong."
The increased gas prices could also have to do with Biden's relations with Saudi Arabia and it's prince Mohammed bin Salman, due to the president's refusal to meet with the prince over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
David Jenkins, president of Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship, said gas prices are on a downward trend, and that once the affects of the pandemic have subsided, prices will continue going down.
"The trend, and we're in a blip right now because of supply chain issues related to the pandemic, on oil and gas prices is downward over time. If you look at before the pandemic and you look at the projections down the road, because there's a lot of electrification and stuff going along in the transportation sector. Every semi-truck manufacturer is rolling out an electric semi. UPS and FedEx are switching all their delivery trucks, General Motors said they're going all electric by 2035."
Jenkins said Wyoming should attempt to diversify when it comes to energy, because the market is going to be moving away from fossil fuels in the near future.
"If you look at the transportation trends, and the electricity market trends...then if I was sitting where Wyoming was and you're so invested in these fossil fuels, I'd say 'oh my god, we're going to be left with an economy in shambles when all this stuff changes if we don't diversify.' It's like with your stock portfolio, you don't put all your eggs in one basket."
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