How low will gas prices go this winter? 3 analyst predictions.
Gas prices have dropped significantly below the record highs of earlier this year, and experts say they could continue to fall through the holidays, The Wall Street Journal reports.
OPIS, an energy data and analytics provider, says the average price of regular unleaded gasoline dropped to $3.35 a gallon on Thursday. This brings prices at the pump to their lowest since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, an over 30 percent decrease since the record high of over $5 over the summer.
Analysts say gas prices have dropped due to inflation concerns lessening the demand for oil. They add that U.S. oil refineries have begun to increase their production after many were shuttered for maintenance.
The global head of energy analysis for OPIS, Tom Kloza, expects gas prices to continue to shrink through the holiday season.
"The next 60 days look really, really hospitable for consumers," Kloza predicts.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, believes U.S. fuel prices could reach $3 per gallon this month while conceding that the price decline is "pretty delicately held-together."
"The high didn't last very long. Prices started to come back down," De Haan said. "And I don't think the low this winter will last a sizable amount of time."
He explains that fuel prices tend to rise seasonally beginning in mid-February. De Hann warns that an increase could happen sooner due to unpredictable geopolitical tension or if China's zero COVID policies relax.
Peter McNally, a global sector leader for industrial materials and energy at Third Bridge, told ABC News, "If the Chinese government signals COVID lockdown easing in response to popular protest, then that stimulates among other things oil demand in China and it boosts oil prices."
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