Why Is Gas Going Up Again 2018

The merits: Joe Biden is to blame for higher gas prices

The rising price of gasoline is beingness felt across the U.S., as the national average price has gone up from $2 per gallon last year to $3 per gallon as of June 9, according to data from the American Automobile Clan.

Many on social media claim President Joe Biden is to blame for this modify.

A June ane Instagram postal service put the title "Joe Biden's America" atop a graphic showing the price jump from January to May 2021.

"Man I haven't seen gas prices this loftier since the concluding fourth dimension (a) Democrat was in office!" claims one meme shared to Facebook on May 22.

"Information technology's called the Biden outcome," commented one Facebook user under a similar May xviii Facebook postal service.

Blaming Biden for this uptick isn't a new miracle. These claims take been in apportionment since January and particularly allege Biden'due south cancellation of the Keystone Twoscore pipeline significantly impacted gasoline, "ensur(ing) a huge increase in gas prices for millions of us."

United states TODAY has reached out to the posters for comment.

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While information technology'south true gasoline prices have risen significantly since Biden took office on Jan. 20 the upward trend predates Biden'southward fourth dimension in office and is related to COVID-19 and market factors, non who occupies the White House.

Pandemic's effect on supply and demand

Every bit with any commodity, the price of gasoline is determined by the simple residual of supply and need: a high supply and depression need means depression prices, while a low supply and loftier demand mean prices rise.

The most important driver of this fluctuation is crude oil, from which gasoline is derived. This fossil fuel typically accounts for between 50% and 60% of the cost at the pump, said Jeanette McGee, a spokesperson for AAA.

In 2020, crude oil prices became extremely inexpensive, so much so it was existence traded at negative prices, McGee told USA TODAY. Brent crude oil, for example, a blend supplying most of Europe, was being sold at $9 a barrel, its lowest cost in decades, the U.S. Free energy Information Administration (EIA) reported.

The primary reason for this drop in crude oil prices was the pandemic, said McGee and Marker Finley, a beau at Rice Academy'southward Center for Free energy Studies.

"The pandemic drove the world'south oil market place to become massively oversupplied, inventory dramatically increased and prices collapsed," Finley told U.s.a. TODAY.

In response to the depression demand due to reduced travel and lockdown restrictions, Finley said major oil-producing countries like Russian federation, Kingdom of saudi arabia and member countries of the System of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, decided to cut down on their own oil production.

But the cutting meant oil producers weren't ready to meet the demand for crude oil once it renewed this year thanks to easing of COVID-19-related restrictions.

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"This year, need has and then far increased more than rapidly than production rates, which means the United States had to depict more on its gasoline storage inventories, which has contributed to prices going upward," Environmental impact assessment spokesperson Chris Higginbotham said in an email to Us TODAY. "Nosotros await oil producers in the Usa and globally to increase their production levels through 2022, which nosotros expect to contribute to lower rough oil prices, and lower gasoline prices."

Gas cost uptrend predates Biden

While presidential actions and policies can accept some touch on the rough oil market, they don't have equally much influence over gasoline prices equally ane might think.

"Some of (a president's) decisions tin can impact or contribute to market changes, which tin then impact (future) crude oil, but they don't dictate gas prices," said McGee. "If you go dorsum and await at historical data, whether it was Bush-league, Obama, Trump or Biden, (gas prices) get up and downwardly no matter who's in office."

During former President Donald Trump's term, the national average for gasoline had gone up to virtually $3 a gallon in May 2018 and hovered close to that price until autumn 2018, according to data maintained by AAA. The cost rose all the same again to nearly $3 a gallon in May 2019 earlier dropping slightly below $two per gallon when country and local governments mandated lockdowns in March 2020.

Gas prices slowly crept from $2.xx per gallon in September 2020 to $2.xl by the time Biden took office in January 2021. McGee said elections typically drive gasoline prices up.

This upward trend was expected to continue due to pandemic recovery, reduced crude oil supply and the approach of summer – historically considered a peak travel season – merely arrived sooner due to the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline, the Due east Coast's major fuel supplier.

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"Nosotros have expected gas prices to hitting $3 a gallon around Memorial Day, just with the (Colonial) pipeline offline, it actually jumped the national average to $iii and more prior to Memorial 24-hour interval," said McGee.

Keystone Forty, other Biden policies don't affect today's gasoline costs

Many critics signal to Biden's decision on the Keystone Forty pipeline as fueling the gas toll spike, but experts say there's no such connection.

The extension of the Keystone pipeline, first proposed in 2008 by TC Energy based in Calgary, Canada, was rejected by erstwhile President Barack Obama in November 2015 but later approved by Trump in March 2017 . Biden and so suspended the project in January. And on June 9, TC Energy announced information technology was terminating the project.

Even if construction wasn't halted, the Keystone XL pipeline wasn't in operation and therefore wouldn't have an bear upon on electric current gas prices, said Finley of Rice Academy.

"That was something that would impact down the road," he said.

David Dismukes, economist and executive director of Lousiana State University's Center for Energy Studies, agreed, telling USA TODAY the pipeline would have had a "longer-run impact in providing a diversity of supply for refineries in the Gulf Coast."

Similarly, other energy policies rolled out past President Biden, such equally postponing oil lease sales, have a long-term, only non curt-term, event.

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"If you lot look at some of the actions taken by the assistants with regard to offshore drilling, drilling on federal lands, the outlook for fossil fuel energies in general, those are impacting the cost of crude and expectations about crude oil," said Diskmukes. "(Biden'south policies do) have an impact, but that'due south not what you're seeing at the pump right at present."

Our rating: False

Based on our enquiry, we charge per unit FALSE the claim President Joe Biden is to blame for the current higher gas prices. The upwards tendency in gas costs nosotros see at present began months before Biden took function. Considering of reduced demand amid the COVID-nineteen pandemic, oil companies had to cut dorsum on the amount of crude oil produced. Now with restrictions being lifted and more travel happening, the demand has increased, which, coupled with lagging supply, has led to increased gasoline prices. Canceling the Keystone 40 pipeline and other free energy policies enacted by Biden have a long-term result on rough oil supply but no nowadays impact on gasoline prices.

Our fact-check sources:

American Automobile Association, accessed June 9, National Average Gas Prices
Jeanette McGee, June 9, Phone interview with USA TODAY
U.S. Energy Information Administration, Jan. v, Rough oil prices briefly traded beneath $0 in spring 2020 but have since been generally flat
Marking Finley, June 9, Telephone interview with U.s. TODAY
Chris Higginbotham, June ix, E-mail interview with USA TODAY
Usa TODAY, May 12, What yous need to know about the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack, gas prices, shortages
USA TODAY, Nov. 6, 2015, Obama administration rejects Keystone pipeline
United states of america TODAY, March 24, 2017, Trump grants Keystone permit, declares 'a great mean solar day for American jobs'
Associated Press, June ix, Keystone Forty pipeline nixed afterward Biden stands firm on permit
Associated Printing, Jan. 20, Keystone XL pipeline halted as Biden revokes allow
David Dismukes, June 9, Phone interview with USA TODAY
Associated Printing, Feb. 12, Interior postpones March oil leases onshore and offshore