Biden is touting falling gas prices, but is he the reason why? Here’s what experts say
Gas prices in the United States fell for the 48th day in a row Aug. 3, hitting a new low since prices peaked in June, according to data from AAA and GasBuddy.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the average price of gas was $4.127 per gallon, GasBuddy’s data showed. That’s almost a dollar cheaper than June’s record-breaking-highs when gas hit more than $5 per gallon.
Now, half of all gas stations across the country are selling gas for less than $4 a gallon, President Joe Biden said in an Aug. 3 tweet. The White House has touted falling prices as a product of the administration’s work.
“I’ve been working to make sure that when the price of oil comes down, the price at the pump comes down as well, and comes down in real time,” Biden said during a July 22 briefing. “The good news is that’s happening, but it’s not happening fast enough. We’ve made progress, but prices are still too high.”
But are Biden and his administration really responsible for easing pressure at the pumps? Yes and no, experts say.
‘Some credit’ to Biden
As gas prices climbed in the spring, Biden announced the largest release of oil reserves in history, according to a March 31 White House fact sheet. Biden’s plan takes oil from the Standard Petroleum Reserve to put an average of one million additional barrels on the market per day through October.
The release of the reserve barrels has lowered the price of gas by up to 42 cents, the U.S. Department of Treasury said in a July 26 statement. But some experts say determining Biden’s influence is more difficult to put into exact numbers.
“You can say it helped but you can’t really quantify the help,” Andrew Gross, a AAA spokesperson, told McClatchy News.
Still, the Biden administration deserves some credit for taking the available positive steps towards lowering gas prices, especially because gas prices could have gone even higher than where they peaked, according to Gross.
“[Biden] did act and take the steps, really the only steps, that any administration can have,” Gross said. “How high would they have gone if the administration didn’t take this step? We don’t know.”
‘Lackluster’ demand
Another, perhaps more powerful, influence driving gas prices down? Consumer demand.
As gas prices have skyrocketed, consumers have changed their habits, according to survey data from AAA that shows two-thirds of U.S. adults have changed their driving habits to save money.
“The demand numbers look, right now, very similar to what demand was last year and almost 2020,” Gross said. “Demand is still a little lackluster, a little flat.”
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that demand is slowing, with 4-week averages dropping and lagging 0.4% behind 2021’s average.
As helpful as the reserves release has been, consumer demand might be the biggest reason prices are dropping, and it could continue to drive prices, according to Gross.
“Will [demand] change if prices keep dropping and people suddenly realize ‘hey I can afford to drive again,’ or has there been somewhat of a paradigm shift where people have decided ‘you know what I’m saving money,” Gross said. “That we won’t know for a while.”
This story was originally published August 3, 2022 at 4:27 PM with the headline "Biden is touting falling gas prices, but is he the reason why? Here’s what experts say."
