Few people were able to enjoy cheap gas back then. Of course, that plunge was driven by the Covid-19 pandemic. To be sure, gas prices are not nearly as cheap as back in 2020 when the national average crashed below $2 a gallon. The national average for diesel – a key fuel in the economy because of it powers trucks that transports consumer goods – has dropped by 28% over the past year to $4 a gallon today. In fact, annual US oil output this year is projected to surpass the pre-Covid record set in 2019, according to the Energy Information Administration.Īll of this has helped depress not just gasoline prices but diesel, too. US oil production also continues to gradually rebound, serving as a powerful counter to production cuts by OPEC and its allies. The Federal Reserve’s war on inflation, marked by 10 straight interest rate hikes, has also driven down oil and other commodities.īut there are also positive factors behind the tamer gas prices: The doomsday scenario of Russia’s oil production getting derailed has not materialized, even after more than a year of the war in Ukraine. That in turn has driven down the price of gasoline and other petroleum products. “The American consumer is slightly smiling at the lower price of gasoline but I don’t think it’s a full-blown smile yet because the overall economic feeling is careful.”įears of a recession – driven in part by high inflation – have helped keep a lid on oil prices. “We’ve seen a lot of improvement,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. But the fact gas prices are much closer to $4 than $5 is a clear positive for consumers as they gear up for the start of summer driving season and more evidence of the economy-wide inflation cooldown. There are multiple reasons for the cheaper gas – and not all of them are good. That’s down 21% from a year ago when the average was $4.47 a gallon and 29% from the June 2022 record of $5.02 a gallon. But gas prices are miles away from last summer’s nightmare.Īt this point last year, gas prices were racing toward $5 a gallon, angering Americans, alarming central bankers and threatening the entire economy.įlash forward 12 months: The national average currently stands at $3.54 a gallon, according to AAA. Filling up at the pump might not be cheap. It's just that the subject usually isn't all of us.įor more of Oona’s sarcasm and attempted wit, visit her website. Turner's decision to make an end-of-days video isn't terribly surprising, as it has been a somewhat common method of newspapers to complete obituaries before the subject dies. The New Yorker provided much-needed fact-checking, and it was later found out that Turner himself had shown the video to his reporters, claiming, "I keep this tape around because when the world ends, it'll be over before we can say what we wanted to say. According to Jalopnik, he was bored and stumbled upon the video, later confirming its existence with a longtime CCN worker he met there. And how would we know this video is real? As Jalopnik questions, is it just "the kind of thing that Ted Turner, the all-around 'eccentric billionaire' archetype, would mention offhand?" Well, the video was introduced publicly when an intern at CNN leaked the footage. You're right to ponder how such an artifact became available to the public, let alone general information. Calling it quits on humanity would be no easy choice, so no pressure to the last bearer of bad news. But just how that decision would be confirmed remains unsolved. In all its eeriness, Turner has made it clear that the task of airing it will be left to the last surviving CNN employee, implying it will take their verdict to declare the end of days.
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