The data is from the U.S. Energy Information Agency and represents retail prices of gasoline using a common measure. The chart is from the Saint Louis Federal Bank. Prices have rebounded a wee bit since the end of December 2022, so maybe we shouldn’t get too puffed up about it, but this is still a positive, useful narrative.
There is also more to be positive about with headlines like, “Joe Biden made the oil trade of the year”.
It worked.
Gas prices were a major story in 2022: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roiled energy markets and some predicted the US dollar might be subsumed by a new, commodity-backed trade currency.
Instead, it appears the US government made the oil trade of the year: Releasing 180 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve between March and the end of this year in an effort to blunt the effect of rising prices, the US government appears to have made about $4 billion, as prices have fallen dramatically over the course of the year.
Dec. 19, 2022
I wouldn’t guess where prices go from here, but right now they are in a zone that between a higher price plateau in 2008-2014 (~$3.50), and a lower price plateau in 2015-2020 (~$2.50). Now that gasoline prices are relatively tame, and the drama factor is absent, some organizations other than the corporate media will have to get that information out.