I have a quarantine routine. I take my car for an afternoon drive every Tuesday. I enjoy turning up the music, opening the sunroof (weather permitting), and just driving around.
Before the state I am in issued its version of a Stay-at-Home, I had filled my tank with gas. So, with only taking my car for a drive once a week, I haven’t needed to fill’er up yet. But, as I was just driving around aimlessly, I got to a stop light, stopped, looked around, and saw a gas station sign with giant electronic numbers saying $1.88/gallon. Now, I’m not quite old enough to fully remember when there was cheap gas but I do remember the major fluctuation in prices between tourist and off season.
In 2020, seeing gas prices well under $3 is really shocking. Now I know it is tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and less of a demand for the product but it is still really really shocking to see a sign with a price under $2 for gas.
I mean like, less demand makes a whole lot of sense! I went from driving almost every day (granted it wasn’t always a far drive) to driving one day a week (to make sure the car runs ok and to break up the monotony of the days). And yea, I'm just one person who isn’t on the road, but like I said before, I personally haven't stopped at a gas station while on one of my Tuesday drives. Now, multiply that by the rest of the “non-essential” population and translate that to the number of cars not on the road, and not not using gas, and you have a massive decrease in demand for the product.
Without a doubt, prices will probably skyrocket once quarantine is over but, at least for now, if you gotta fill’er up, it won’t hit your bank account too hard. ✌
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