Oil prices fall below $90 a barrel for the first time since February|CC0 Public Domain
Gas prices in the US have dropped for the seventh consecutive week. That’s good news—and bad—for Americans, experts say.
The average pump price of gas dropped to $4.14 a gallon on Thursday, a significant decline from the all-time high of $5.02 a gallon in June, according to AAA.
Why?
Prices of gas are dropping because there is an increase in gasoline production and a decrease in the cost of crude oil, which on Thursday dropped below $90 a barrel for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, said Atlantic Council’s Ellen Wald.
Oil prices had pushed past $120 a barrel just two months ago.
‘Demand destruction’
And there’s one more reason for the price drop: Americans are driving less to cope with rising expenses.
“We have seen some of what we call ‘demand destruction’—people choosing not to buy gasoline because it’s so expensive,” Wald said. “Fears we could be entering a global recession could be driving prices down.”