Biden's America: Gas Prices to Soar to $4 a Gallon in 2022
Refinery capacity fell to a six-year low in 2021
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Gasoline prices are poised to reach a national average of $4 a gallon in 2022, according to a new forecast.
GasBuddy, an app that tracks fuel prices, predicted consumers would be hit hard.
“We could see a national average that flirts with, or in a worst-case scenario, potentially exceeds $4 a gallon,” Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, told CNN, which first reported the eye-popping price.
The forecast runs against the current trend in which gasoline prices have been coming down, which the national average of $3.29 a gallon on Monday.
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But GasBuddy predicts prices will rise again in 2022 due to several major refineries in Louisiana and Texas being down as demands soar.
Refinery capacity fell to a six-year low in 2021.
As the New York Post reported:
By May, prices will peak, reaching a monthly average of $3.79 a gallon and then slowly come down to $3.57 a gallon in July, eventually reaching $3.01 a gallon by December as demand cools off, GasBuddy predicts.
If a new coronavirus variant hits next year, all bets are off as demand will likely crash as it has during the Omicron outbreak, GasBuddy told CNN.
“Anything could change,” de Haan told CNN.
“Tomorrow, there could be a ridiculous variant and prices could plummet.”
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The White House is taking credit for the slight ebb in gas prices right now.
“As people head out for the Christmas weekend, gas prices continue to drop — down 25 cents a gallon in many places since @POTUS announced the globally-coordinated strategic petroleum release,” White House chief of staff Ron Klain tweeted on Dec. 23.
As people head out for the Christmas weekend, gas prices continue to drop -- down 25 cents a gallon in many places since @POTUS announced the globally-coordinated strategic petroleum release. https://t.co/bJgCZaYGp1
— Ronald Klain (@WHCOS) December 23, 2021
Klain was referring to the release of 50 million barrels of oil from America’s reserve stash, which the White House announced the week of Thanksgiving in an attempt to counter rising gas prices.
But others pointed out that gasoline prices are up a whopping 46 percent from this time last year when on Christmas Eve, the average price per gallon was $2.25.
