Wyomingites still have fatter wallets than most of America when it comes to paying for gas prices at the pump, even as prices have steadily crept up in recent weeks.
For instance, Wyoming’s average gas price is $3.20, about 35% cheaper than California’s $4.95 average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas as of Thursday, according to data provided by the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks gasoline prices across the country.
The bullish pressure on gas prices this time of year is a classic supply-and-demand movement in a commodity’s value driven by a number of factors, including the change in seasons from winter to spring, and whether oil refineries that dot the West Coast or east of the Rocky Mountains have been taken down for maintenance.
Prices also can spike when pipelines that move gasoline don’t work smoothly and trucks are needed to pick up the transportation slack.
This happened eight years ago when an explosion happened on the Colonial pipeline that carried gasoline from the Gulf Coast to North Carolina.
“Gas prices rise in the spring. They always do,” observed AAA spokesman Andrew Gross.
“There may be some regional variability, but it is fair to say that prices move higher across the board starting in late February and peak in June and July, before starting to decline with the approach of fall and winter,” Gross said. “The main factors are increased demand [including longer days and better weather], higher costs for oil, and more expensive summer blend gasoline.”
Wealthy Areas Charge More
Gas prices also are influenced by geopolitical events.
“Oil tends to move in a somewhat unpredictable manner, because it’s a global commodity and priced as such,” Gross said. “Events on the other side of the world [such as Russia and China], can move oil prices quite a bit since the oil market is very headline-driven.”
Wyoming is feeling these pressures at the pump, but it depends on where you live as to whether you feel them more than others.
Overall, pump prices in Wyoming are about 32 cents below the national average, unless you live in the state’s wealthier areas, in a sparsely populated area that attract tourists, or in a rural area where there aren’t many gas stations.
“Stop your complaining,” a jesting Gross said of Wyomingites.
According to a fever chart of gas prices in Wyoming that is broken down by counties, folks in Big Horn, Park and Washakie counties in the northwestern part of the state are getting their wallets drained the most.
They’re paying about 4 cents more at the pump than the average $3.527 price paid nationally as of Thursday, according to the AAA data. The national price is about 25 cents higher than a month ago.
Two years ago, gas hit a record high in the U.S.
That was June 14, 2022, at $5.01 for a gallon of unleaded gas coming a few months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which caused disruptions in the commodity pricing for refined oil.
Good Deal
In Wyoming, the average price in the state Thursday stood at $3.201 a gallon, which is about 17 cents less than a year ago. A month ago, the average price had hovered at $2.869.
While consumers who fill up at the pump in the northwestern part of the state are paying the most for a gallon of gas, the more populated areas are paying the least.
Albany and Laramie counties — where University of Wyoming in Laramie and the state Capitol in Cheyenne are located, respectively — stand about 50 cents below the national average.
In Jackson, the wealthiest county in America, people pay about 14 cents less than the national average, but about 18 cents more than the Wyoming average.
Not a bad deal compared to prices paid in swanky Beverly Hills in Los Angeles.
On Thursday, down the street from the exclusive Wilshire Country Club that attracts Hollywood's television stars as private members, people are paying $5.49 a gallon at the Chevron station on Beverly Boulevard, according to GasBuddy, a website that tracks gas prices of stations and convenience stores.
“A gas station in Beverly Hills might have a ludicrous gas price at $6, but if a station can get people to pay it, and people are willing to pay that amount, it might just be for the convenience,” Gross said. “If you have a high tourist area, the stations can charge what people are willing to pay, as opposed to Casper where you’d get more competition.”
In central Wyoming’s Natrona County where Casper stands as the gateway to the Bighorn Mountains, the average gas price Thursday was $2.967 a gallon, up 40 cents from a month ago, according to AAA.
Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.
