Bill OBoyle: Dealing with this pain in the gas
Aug. 15—WILKES-BARRE — So back in 1966 or so, I was driving a sleek, shiny, dark blue Plymouth Valiant.
Yeah man, push-button automatic transmission and the coolest vinyl seats you have ever seen, man.
That Valiant was chick magnet.
Uhhh, so I'm exaggerating, but that car got me and my pals where we needed to go — well, most of the time.
But there came a time when the 1964 Plymouth Valiant started to fail. It got to the point where I would pull into Cheponis' gas station on Route 11 and tell Chip to check the gas and fill the oil.
And then finally on one Friday evening, as we were rolling down the Narrows Highway, Valiant valiantly stopped running. The motor had frozen. It was a good run, but it would run no more.
We walked home.
These were the days that when the price of gas hit 20 cents a gallon, we were aghast. How can we afford to run our cars at these prices? Heck, we were making $1.25 an hour at Golden Quality.
And here we are in 2022 and people are dancing in the streets because the price of gas has dipped below $4 per gallon.
Wait — what?
The other day, my friends at AAA Mid-Atlantic sent an email that showed the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton/Hazleton gas price average at $4.27 a gallon, down 13 cents in the last week and down 90 cents from the record high set on June 14 at $5.17. And several local gas stations had the price at $3.99 per gallon.
"Happy days are here again!"
C'mon, Big Oil, ease up on us already. If you can pay aging pro golfers who are near the end of their careers hundreds of millions of dollars to play in a less-than-valid golf tour, you can give Mr. & Mrs. John Q. Public a break at the gas pump.
Jane Tidwell, manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said gas prices are continuing to fall after breaking records across the country earlier this spring that sent the national average and many state averages above the $5 per gallon mark for the first time in history.
After setting a record high of $5.01 per gallon on June 14, the national gas price average has dropped below $4 per gallon for the first time since March.
Tidwell said this week that the national average price for regular grade, self-service gasoline dropped to $3.99 per gallon — down 14 cents in the last week, down 68 cents from a month ago, down $1.01 cents (20%) since hitting a record-high in June ($5.01) — yet remains 81 cents higher than this time last year.
"It's been five months since the national gas price average was below $4 per gallon," Tidwell said. "After peaking in mid-June at $5.01 per gallon, the national gas price average, as well as many other states across the country, has fallen consistently as crude oil prices have moved below $100 per barrel and gasoline demand has fallen off as motorists adjust their driving behaviors."
Tidwell says multiple factors determine the fluctuation of prices at the pump — the price of crude oil (50%-60% of a gallon of gasoline is made of crude oil), refining costs, taxes, supply and demand, international conflict, economic uncertainty, COVID, and hurricane season to name a few.
Wait — COVID? Apparently the pandemic has provided the perfect reason for just about everything to become over-priced. Why I ask — why?
"Motorists have undoubtedly felt the pain at the pump this summer," Tidwell noted. "Downward movement in gas prices will definitely make a difference for most people. AAA is cautiously optimistic that pump prices will continue to fall, particularly if the global price of crude oil does not spike, however the overall situation remains very volatile."
When will this madness end? Some people like to get in their vehicle and take a ride. They turn on the A/C, blast the radio and sing along and head out on the highways or country roads. They find it therapeutic. Again COVID has made us all suffer from the pain and loneliness of self-isolation.
Look, we're not asking for gas prices to drop to 20 cents a gallon, but it's not unreasonable to expect more reasonable prices at the pump.
We don't want millions to play golf. Just a return to normalcy at the gas pump so we can go out for a ride and stop at a nice restaurant for a nice dinner.
Just don't order a steak.
That's another story.
Just blame everything on the COVID.
Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
