January 1, Experts Have Bad News About Gas Prices

Amid record-breaking gas prices, energy industry experts have some unfortunate news: the high prices may be here to stay.

“It’s hard to see how they’ll go down in the short term with all of the uncertainty that’s brought about by the conflict,” said Jeff Kupfer, Acting Deputy Energy Secretary during the George W. Bush administration.

Kupfer cautioned that prices could continue to increase if other countries join the U.S. in banning Russian oil and energy imports.

“If it’s simply a question of the U.S. banning Russian oil, that’s a relatively small blip on the overall oil market in the world,” he said. “However, if other countries begin to join in, then I do think it could have a significant impact and prices could continue to rise.”

Port of Corpus Christi CEO Sean Strawbridge said volatility from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could lead to even higher prices in the near future, but he expects they’ll eventually even out.

“Markets are driven by emotion. They’re not driven by rational, empirical decision-making,” Strawbridge said, adding that he would not be surprised if oil prices hit $140 per barrel or more. 

“It’s really emotions that are driving these markets. Do I think that we still have more upward mobility in pricing? Absolutely. I don’t think we’ve seen the peak just yet,” Strawbridge said. “But I think as we start to plateau, as we start to see economies cool and as we see production grow, I think we will start to see a plateau.”

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Record gas prices could be here to stay, experts say: ‘Driven by emotion’