All that to say...don't mess with my gas!

Last week, I read an article about how the big three oil companies all came under fire for their lack of action in the “climate battle”. It caught my attention because the night before I read the article, I noticed the prices at the local gas stations had gone up to over $3 a gallon! That was like a 30-cent jump in just a couple of days! When I first saw the higher prices, I thought maybe we were seeing the remnants of the effects of that cyber-attack on the Colonial pipeline or maybe the gas stations were just raising prices in anticipation of Memorial Day weekend.  

But then my cynical brain got to thinking otherwise. I began to wonder if the gas prices have anything to do with Exxon, Chevron, and Shell getting “mud on their face”, as Mr. Mercury so eloquently put it. It just seems a little more than coincidence that these big oil companies got “bullied” one day all over the media and the next day the prices at the pump drastically increase.  Of course, I am far from an economist or a business head honcho...so, what do I know?

Whose fault is it?

If we listen to the media, it's all Donald Trump's fault...or is it Joe Biden's fault? Well, that depends on who you ask. But is it really either person's fault? Or is it really just because of the long weekend or the cyber attack or the Big Three? Prices have been fluctuating up and down for a while now. This drastic jump was out of the ordinary but, again, can a holiday really play that big of a role in the cost of a gallon of gasoline? 

Supply & Demand

Amy Livingston writes about this issue in an article on moneycrashers.com. She explains that there are a number of factors that go into the price of gasoline. Ultimately, it comes down to supply and demand, essentially. Another article, by David Blackmon at forbes.com, intimates that the rapid de-quarantining of so many from the pandemic actually took the oil industry by surprise and caused one of those supply-and-demand fluctuations. If more people are out and about needing gas, then the cost will increase. If less people are out, the cost will decrease. So, ironically enough, it seems that the holiday weekend may just be enough to cause a significant rise in gas prices. 

All that to say...drive safe this summer, y'all!