As we approach Christmas day, don’t expect any gifts at the gas pump. Prices are the highest for the holiday season in six years. But as WLNI’s Evan Jones reports, there’s something else at work that is keeping them from being much higher.
12-24 Gas Prices Wrap-WLNI-WEB
Gas Buddy puts the region’s average price at $2.34 a gallon, higher during the Christmas season than at any time since 2013. On the other hand, prices this week are almost dead even with where they were exactly ten years ago. That was in the heart of the Great Recession when demand was much lower. Gas Buddy Head of Petroleum Analysis Patrick DeHaan says in this much busier economy, it is domestic oil production that is holding prices in check. In fact, six years ago, we were paying about 70 cents a gallon more at Christmas than we are today.