Gas prices keep on moving up and we sat down with Patrick De Haan, Head of Petroleum Analysis for GasBuddy to find out if they will ever come back down.  

He said that current politics across the pond have directly impacted prices across the world.  

“It is happening because of the continued concerns over Russia and what could happen if Russia makes a military move on Ukraine. With that, oil prices in recent weeks have jumped to about $95 a barrel.” 

“It's too early to get too excited, but oil prices today are down about 5% on some potential improvements in the Russia situation. Russia seemingly putting out an olive branch, saying it may be interested in continued talking so there may be some optimism,” he continued. “It's obviously far too early to see if that'll pan out, but the overall concern is that supply is still lagging behind the demands that we continue to see as a result of the pandemic.” 

De Haan expects that gas prices are headed up before they come back down as we near towards warmer weather.  

“By the end of May, based on the seasonal trend that typically almost always sees gas prices go up as these season changes.” 

If you are standing at the pump and wondering why you are paying the prices you are, De Haan has an answer for that.  

“Oil prices are determined by a market that is not too dissimilar to the housing market. What a buyer and seller are willing to pay. If there are fewer homes in the market that will be pushing up the price that those homeowners can demand from buyers. The same is true in the oil market. There is not enough oil to meet the amount of buyer's demand, and so oil prices are high.”