Easily Stressed: COVID, Ukraine, and hurricanes causing concern around oil supply chain

Many rural Americans will be in the field or on the road this holiday weekend, and you will be digging deeper than ever to fill up.

Right now a gallon of gas is at a record high-- $4.59 a gallon. Diesel is closing in on $6 dollars.

There has been some stability on the international scene, but refined products here in the U.S. keep inching upward. Patrick De Haan with Gasbuddy says that prices will probably go even higher in the summer driving season. The war in Ukraine, an uptick in COVID cases, and the upcoming hurricane season have him worried the oil supply chain could easily be stressed.

“We aren’t to the point yet where we could weather an even minor disruption, especially with demand that’s likely to be high this summer,” he states. “The worry is that very quickly any minute refinery issue could blow up very quickly into a gas price or diesel price surge. So, we’re not at the point where we have enough inventory to weather any major event.”

He adds that with so many questions, he anticipates both diesel and gas prices will be bumpy during the summer.

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