CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The price of gas has risen for 27 days in a row. Some on social media are pointing the finger at President Joe Biden for the increases.
“Though they may try to take credit or blame for the state of oil a president really can't control a global commodity,” said Patrick De Haan, head of Petroleum Analysis at Gasbuddy.com.
The Triple-A reports that gas prices are currently an average of $3.01 a gallon at the pumps in Corpus Christi.
De Haan said globally there's more oil demand than supply. Oil companies haven't raised production levels back to before the pandemic. Some of that has to do with labor challenges, and some is attitude.
“It does seem like this is getting more political that oil producers are reluctant to increase production, given the fact that they feel attacked by many countries on the move away from oil,” said De Haan.
Worldwide fuel shortages are impacting the U.S. China's reduced coal supply has it buying up every energy commodity. Europe's natural gas shortage has some U.S. power plants adding to demand by switching from natural gas to oil. Another political assumption is President Biden's canceling of the keystone pipeline and limiting future drilling are driving up prices now.
“Those impacts are not to be felt yet for several years canceling a pipeline that was never completed and never relied on pipeline that was built for future capacity being shut down really is irrelevant at this time,” said De Haan.
Even with OPEC's recent increase in production, De Haan said it will take at least a few months to catch up to meet demand, which means higher prices will stick around through the holidays.
