March 7, 2022 |
Prepare for sticker shock at the pump. Crude oil prices hit $130/barrel Sunday evening after starting the day around $115. Some analysts say the price could hit $150-$200/barrel by the end of the month as world war looms with Russia.
Here in Carbon County, gas prices moved to over $3.75 a gallon over the weekend. Diesel is selling above $4.00 a gallon in Saratoga. A listener in Rawlins reports where prices in the city stand Monday morning.
Photo by Cali O’Hare/Bigfoot 99.
On Sunday, the White House threatened sanctions of Russian crude oil, spiking prices. Another part of the problem is the ongoing chokehold on domestic production. The Biden administration shows no sign of loosening its grip. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, responding to a question from MSNB last week, admitted expanding domestic energy production is not part of Joe Biden’s plan.
The short-term fix, announced Friday, includes releasing 30 million barrels of crude oil from our reserve to ‘combat’ rising fuel prices. This represents less than two days worth of American energy consumption. At the same time, the U.S. will continue to import 670,000 barrels of oil from Russia every day, the same Russia that Biden administration officials blame for rising gas prices. By comparison, the abandoned Keystone XL pipeline was expected to transport 830,000 barrels of Alberta tar sands oil per day to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas, or 30% more than what the U.S. is importing from Russia.
On Friday, during a visit to the Wyoming Legislature on Friday, U.S. Senator John Barrasso told House members that he was scheduled to appear on a national news show later in the day. The topic of the interview was “what should the United States do about Russian oil.” Sen. Barrasso said the answer was easy.
American consumers are caught between two wars — the one in Ukraine and the political assault on domestic energy at home in the name of protecting the environment. Joining the fight against the White House are more than two dozen governors, including Wyoming’s Mark Gordon. On Friday, 26 Republican governors sent a letter to the president urging him to restore America’s energy independence.
“By removing his bans on new oil and gas development on federal lands, building the Keystone XL pipeline, and reinstating regulatory reforms to streamline energy permitting, we can protect our national energy security and sell to our friends rather than buy from our enemies — specifically Russia. Family budgets have already been stretched thin following record inflation. People in our states cannot afford another spike at the gas pump, and our allies cannot afford to be held hostage by Putin’s tyranny and aggression.”
Joining Gordon were the governors of Idaho, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, New Hampshire, Texas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah West Virginia and Virginia.
Meanwhile, the average price of gasoline nationwide stood at $4.00/gallon on Monday morning. The American Automobile Association reported that the average price in Wyoming was $3.75/gallon, although spot prices in Rawlins indicate most stations were higher prices.
