HAMPTON, Va. — The national average for a gallon of gas fell one penny over the weekend from $4.33 to $4.32.
While that doesn’t seem like a lot, economists in Hampton Roads said the price is moving in the right direction.
But will it stay on that track?
“We shop a lot around and it’s bad everywhere we go,” said Hampton driver Caesar Cortez.
When it comes time to fill up for fuel, many drivers in Hampton have been fearing the price they’ll find at the pump.
“I hope they don’t go up anymore because we are going to end up riding horses or bikes,” Cortez said.
On Friday, March 11 an average gallon of gas in Hampton Roads cost about $4.27, by Monday that was down to $4.21.
“The gas prices that you see when you go to fill up your tank is also tied pretty strongly to what is going on with the oil futurist market,” said Christopher Newport University Economic Professor Rik Chakraborti.
Chakraborti said the price you see at the pump reflects the price of crude oil per barrel.
Monday, AAA Tidewater reported that price has recently fallen from $123 per barrel to around $110.
Ultimately, Chakraborti said the crude oil prices are heavily reliant on the war in Ukraine.
“Over a longer horizon, I expect prices to go down, but I don’t expect a drastic drop just this week,” Chakraborti said. “Unless all of a sudden, the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine coming up this Monday just resolves the problem, all the sudden they declare, 'Ok the war is over.' Then you would actually see a big big jump.”
Over the next couple of months, he said he doesn’t think drivers will see a big price change at the pump, either up or down.
“You might actually see a sudden increase, decrease, these blips if you will, of single pennies to the dollar really,” Chakraborti said.
Old Dominion University Economist Vinod Agarwal said other countries could ease the fuel situation.
“As you know, the U.S. has basically put restrictions on Russian oil,” Agarwal said. “The Europeans are also planning to at least reduce their dependence on Russian oil."
He said countries like Saudi Arabia or United Arab Emirates could help by increasing their oil production.
“If they do, yes this trend of slightly decreasing prices will continue,” Agarwal said. “If they do not, it will depend on how long this war continues and what turns does it take.”