Gas prices are still high in Evansville and Henderson, and they'll be that way for a while
Gas prices are the highest they’ve been in seven years, and the pain at the pump isn't expected to subside in time for the holiday season.
According to AAA spokeswoman Lynda Lambert, with crude oil trading at more than $80 per barrel, gas prices likely won’t drop below $3 per gallon anytime soon.
“The price of crude oil accounts for 50 to 60 percent of gas prices,” said Lambert.
Compared to this time last year, there is more of a demand for gas, but it’s not quite up to par with that of 2019. On the bright side, Indiana and Kentucky are experiencing relatively mild increases compared to some West Coast states such as California, where unleaded gas has climbed to a statewide average of $4.58 per gallon.
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Other factors include a shortage of oil in China and natural gas in Europe, which is an issue Patrick DeHaan, head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy, said will persist.
“There are a lot of factors that go into what we are paying at the pump right now and a lot of them are factors that have never been seen before,” said DeHaan. “COVID also has a lot to do with it.”
As of Thursday, the average price per gallon for regular unleaded gas in Evansville is $3.20 – a $1.18 increase from this the same time in 2020, and a 25-cent increase from 30 days ago. The current average unleaded price for Henderson is $2.93 a gallon, compared to $1.72 a year ago. Henderson’s prices aren’t escalating as quickly as they are across the river, with less than a one cent average increase in the past month.
Rising gas prices haven’t had much of an effect on Henderson or Evansville city government expenses. In Henderson, city vehicles such as police cars and public transportation rely on the city’s annual budget for fuel costs. However, according to Henderson city government spokeswoman Donna Stinnett, because of last year’s historically low demand, the fuel budget is 50 percent higher in 2021, resulting in a $167,000 allotment for city vehicles.
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In Evansville, Noah Stubbs, the city’s director of communications, says gas prices are negotiated at the beginning of the year, so city vehicles are fueled at a fixed rate all year. For 2020 the fixed rate for city department vehicles was about $2.71 for a gallon of unleaded regular gas, and in 2021 the rate is lower, at $2.48 a gallon.
Due to the unpredictable nature of the factors influencing fuel prices, it’s hard to say whether we can expect some relief – but experts say it’s unlikely.
“I would say there is more risk of prices stabilizing where they are than there is of prices declining,” said DeHaan. “There is very little chance of prices declining at this point.”
This article originally appeared on Henderson Gleaner: Gas prices still high in Evansville, Henderson, could stay for a while
