For a moment last week, it seemed as if oil and gas prices might start moving closer to what they were, but that was short-lived as tensions with Iran flared again, and ceasefire and peace talks seemed stymied.
Michigan gas prices did drop, however, by double digits in a week on Sunday, April 19, for the first time since February, according to AAA. They were down to $3.83 a gallon for regular unleaded, 15 cents, and to $5.21 a gallon for diesel, down 10 cents.
But that, some analysts have said, seems unlikely to last.
“Swings at the pump may not be over,” said Adrienne Woodland, AAA spokesperson, acknowledging that “Michigan drivers are finally seeing some relief at the pump” and adding that prices remain volatile and “could change quickly.”
President Donald Trump is now threatening Iran’s power plants and bridges.
Where gas prices are highest and lowest in Michigan
In Michigan, motorists are paying an average of $57 for a full 15-gallon tank of gasoline. The most expensive average by community is Benton Harbor, at $3.92 a gallon; Marquette, $3.89; and Ann Arbor, $3.87. The least: Flint, $3.69; Saginaw, $3.73; and Jackson, $3.73.
It’s unclear how the higher prices might affect Up North summer tourism.
The national gas price average on Sunday was $4.05 a gallon.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, on Monday, April 20, called the decline “a welcome break,” with average prices falling in 48 states over the last week, but that the relief “may prove fleeting.”
Why Middle East tensions are driving oil prices higher
To recap what has unfolded in the Middle East in the past few days: The United States and Iran seemed to reach an agreement, and the Strait of Hormuz – the waterway vital to the world’s oil – would open, but that didn’t last.
Iran, objecting to a U.S. blockade of its ports, also appeared to attack ships in retaliation, and the United States captured an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, the Touska, that it claimed had refused to follow orders to turn back.
Trump said on social media that if Iran didn’t take his deal, the United States was going to “knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” punctuating his remarks with “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
What analysts say comes next for gas prices
And Sunday, oil prices surged, trading at $90-$95 a barrel.
“With global oil flows remaining at risk, renewed volatility is taking hold, and the continued back-and-forth is making any lasting resolution increasingly fragile,” De Haan said. “As a result, gasoline prices are likely to rise again in the days ahead.”
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan gas prices fall, but analysts warn relief may be short‑lived
Reporting by Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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