Surprising Trend Has Gas Prices Going Down in Utah

An unexpected gift for the holidays has been lower gas prices. Triple-A is reporting gas prices as low as $3.49 in Washington County and $3.02 in Iron County. Parts of Salt Lake are und $3.00 a gallon for the first time in over a year. 

What is the reason for the unexpected drop in oil prices? Usually, war in the middle east has the opposite effect on the price per barrel. The war in Gaza did cause a small spike in the prices, but the area is not a big producer of oil and it is not pinching the supply. The spike in the price of oil with the onset of war between Russia and Ukraine caused a much larger spike as that area produces a lot of oil.  

Triple-A says the estimates for the need of oil were higher than what has actually happened, and this has brought the price down. People just haven’t been driving as much as they thought. 

Another reason for the lower gas prices according to USA Today has to do with the introduction of cheaper winter blends of gasoline earlier in the year. These blends are less expensive and with an earlier arrival, helped to lower gas during the Holidays. 

California introduced its winter blend earlier than usual this year, and it contains a larger amount of a cheaper ingredient that helps cars start at lower temperatures.   

With lower gas prices, the cost to transport goods will go down as well. This should lower the cost of goods throughout the economy. This could give some needed breathing room during the lead up to Christmas this year.