Could gas in the Fresno area soon hit $5? Here’s where to find it for $3.81 for now
Gasoline prices in the Fresno market continued to dip in the last week of January, with the average price down more than 5 cents from the December price of $4.50 a gallon, bucking a national trend of rising fuel prices on Monday morning.
But will we see $5 gas in March?
Monday’s average of $4.468, taken from the gas price tracker GasBuddy.com, which relies on customer reports at stations across Fresno and Fresno County, continued a downward spiral from a 2021 high of $4.63 per gallon on Nov. 23, two pennies off the area’s all-time high of $4.65 per gallon in mid-2008, during the great recession.
The GasBuddy mobile app on Monday found the cheapest gas in the area at the Fastrip in Sanger on Academy Avenue for $3.81. Also in Sanger, Gulf was selling regular at $3.83. In Fresno, the EZ Trip at 6639 N. Parkway Drive and Costco on North Blackstone Avenue set prices at $3.99.
Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, noted a bit of an oddity in the Fresno market, compared to the national numbers: While Fresno prices continued to trend downward, the national average was on the way up. But he said Fresno won’t be far behind.
DeHaan, in a telephone interview with The Fresno Bee, cited “a lot of anxiety over what happens in Russia,” as Vladimir Putin continued to menace Ukraine with threats of an armored invasion.
“Russia uses natural gas as a weapon” to achieve foreign policy objectives, he said. “They can inflict more damage (by forcing prices higher) if they want.”
Other factors driving fuel prices higher include the COVID-19 pandemic and the inevitable rise as everyone drives more in the summer, DeHaan added. Couple that with a hike in prices as refineries change fuel formulas to comply with state regulations requiring a cleaner blend of gasoline for summer driving.
“It will be a perfect storm if tensions rise.”
“My biggest concern is what happens in six to eight weeks...It’s very possible that California hits $5 a gallon.”