For the first time in five months, the price of gasoline fell below $4 per gallon in the United States. This announcement represents both a relief to American motorists and a blessing for President Joe Biden a few months before the midterm elections.
US premium pump prices had risen to a record $5.01 per gallon (3.78 liters) in mid-June, the equivalent of $1.32 per liter, on the back of rising prices. gross oil prices after the invasion of Ukraine in particular. According to the AAA car association, the average price at the pump has fallen to $3.99 a gallon, the lowest since March, but is still 25% more expensive than a year ago.
The White House reacted to this welcome downturn, celebrating that “it gives a little air to all the families of the country, a much-needed measure”, in the words of Cecilia Rouse, chief of the economic advisers to the president.
“We continue working to reduce inflation”
“While this news is encouraging, we still have work to do to reduce inflation, without giving up substantial gains in the economy and labor market,” it added in a statement.
According to the AAA association, “despite the steady drop in gas prices at the height of the summer travel season, fewer motorists had filled up with gas last week.” “This is yet another sign that, for now, Americans are changing their driving habits to cope with higher prices at the pump,” adds AAA.
For Patrick De Haan, an oil sector analyst at the Gasbuddy website, “although the recent drop in gasoline prices is good news, the problems that led to the increase in prices are not fully resolved and could still cause prices will eventually rise, if something unexpected happens. “.
State interventions in the stock market
“We have never seen anything like 2022 at the pump (…) between the current Covid-19 pandemic, which has caused a myriad of imbalances, and Russia’s war against Ukraine,” the analyst recalled. “As a result, we’ve seen gas prices perform like never before, going from $3 to $5 and now back to $3.99.”
The Joe Biden administration, faced with high inflation that displeases Americans, has tried to curb fuel prices. For months, the state has been tapping into US strategic oil reserves to release them onto the market to drive down crude prices.
The price of a barrel of US WTI oil, which had exceeded $123 in March after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fell back below $100 at the end of July and traded around $93 on Thursday. .
Source: BFM TV
