GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — Recently, during a trip to Asia, President Donald Trump once again claimed gas prices would drop below $2 a gallon nationwide “pretty soon.”
As of now, the nationwide average is $3.07, with the state average at $3.08 a gallon, according to GasBuddy. FOX 17 sat down with GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan to determine the legitimacy of those claims.
“Two dollars nationally, that’s next to an impossibility,” De Haan said. “Keep in mind that that only happened during his first term at the height of the pandemic, and then it disappeared by the time his first term was complete.”De Haan said the new normal low for gas prices will likely stay in the mid-$2 range to low-$3 range per gallon. Between inflation, high property taxes, rising property values, and the cost of labor for gas stations, prices below $2 a gallon are unlikely, according to De Haan.
Furthermore, Trump’s mantra of “drill, baby, drill” to increase production so far hasn’t made much of an impact on domestic production.
“Oil production has remained relatively stagnant over the last 10 months or so, with it going up about 50,000 to 100,000 barrels a day,” De Haan said. “So policy is not law. President Trump’s desire for oil companies does not compel them to produce more crude oil.”The wild card that could help gas prices is OPEC increasing production, which has been happening on a nearly monthly basis, according to De Haan.
Here’s where gas prices stand county by county across West Michigan as of 7 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, according to GasBuddy:
- Kent County: $3.16 per gallon
- Muskegon County: $3.10 per gallon
- Ottawa County: $3.06 per gallon
- Kalamazoo County: $3.22 per gallon
