Good News Regarding Gas Prices at Last

By Yehudit Garmaise

Rockland drivers have been pleasantly surprised in the past weeks to see gas prices begin to fall below last year’s sky-high prices.

Gas prices have plummeted nationwide by 35% from their peak at $5 per gallon in early 2022. 

Costco's gas station in Nanuet posted gas prices at $3.19 last night, according to gasbuddy.com, which posts the least expensive gas prices regionally.

The next least expensive gas station in Rockland County, however, is the BP gas station at 55 US-9W in West Haverstraw, which is charging $3.37 per gallon.

While many gas prices in Rockland County remain a bit higher than the current nationwide average of $3.29 per gallon, the nationwide average price of gas has come down considerably from its average of $3.36 per gallon in December 2021.

In December 2021, national gas stations were charging, on average, $3.36 per gallon. However, prices were much higher in many West Coast states, such as California, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon.

Traveling even further west, however, drivers in Hawaii are paying an average of $5.15 per gallon, the highest gas price nationally, according to Forbes Advisor.

The Wall Street Journal reported that state taxes and distances from oil refineries cause gas prices to vary regionally.

Gas prices quickly climbed after February 24, 2022, at the beginning of the Russia and Ukraine conflict. This conflict further disrupted the global flow of crude oil, whose supply chains were already battered by the pandemic.

Higher gas prices have been the biggest driver of the highest price inflation Americans have seen since the 1980s. The cost of groceries and other goods rises along with gas prices because those goods have to be transported to stores in trucks that use gasoline.

Now that gas prices are declining from what Americans hope was their peak, the inflated costs of groceries and many other goods likely will soon come down, as well.