The average price for gas in Indiana has been hovering around $2.10 per gallon, since the second week of June. How much longer will that last? That is something GasBuddy is trying to figure out.
Prices were as low as $1 per gallon when the coronavirus pandemic forced the state to go under a stay-at-home order, but gas prices have gone back up since the state has slowly reopened. Since June 8, they have not moved a whole lot.
“Frankly, it looks like they’re (gas stations) not playing their normal games of lowering prices after they go up. That’s a distinct change from earlier this year. Each time prices went up, stations would start to undercut each other relatively quickly,” says Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.
DeHaan says that all changed in April when prices started to go back up. After going up steadily, now they are holding steady.
“It’s too early to tell if this is a long-term change that stations simply raise prices and then hold them steady. This is certainly an unusual and abrupt shift. This could be an attempt amidst a pandemic to be a little more cautious knowing that gasoline sales are still lower or it could be something else,” says DeHaan.
DeHaan still believes prices will go “back to normal.” So, what does normal look like?
“I think the ‘normal’ for this summer is going to be prices kind of in the low to mid $2 per gallon range. I think we should hold that through August. I don’t think we’ll make a full recovery in gas prices this summer unless the situation improves significantly from today,” says DeHaan.
Many stations are selling gas for $2.09, but DeHaan says he would not be surprised if some stations see an increase to $2.19 as early as this week.
