fourth of july

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

Gas prices in Wyoming — already the 10th highest in the country — will continue to move upward in the days leading into the Fourth of July weekend, according to a petroleum analyst.

Patrick De Haan, a petroleum analyst with the website/app Gas Buddy, told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that he definitely expected gas prices to go up by the weekend.

“The average gas price in Wyoming is around $3.22 a gallon, and the state’s prices are higher than the national average,” De Haan said. “This isn’t uncommon for prices to go up around this time of the year, but they definitely have increased more in Wyoming in the last month or so.”

He added Wyoming’s gas prices are about 21 cents higher per gallon than the national average. At some gas stations, such as in Muddy Gap, gas is selling for around $4 per gallon.

De Haan noted that prices will be higher in certain tourist areas of Wyoming, such as Jackson and Cody.

The petroleum analyst expected gas prices to continue to increase as summer continued, peaking in late July. But once late August rolls around, prices will dip somewhat, he said.

“There won’t be a large decline, but it’ll definitely be noticeable in late summer and early fall,” he said.

Thankfully there won’t be any gas shortages this summer, but De Haan noted there might be delivery delays, where trucks are unable to deliver gas to a station in a timely manner. While he didn’t expect the delays to affect a gas station for more than a few hours or even a day, he thought people should be aware of it.

As with every other industry, there has been a shortage of employees to work as delivery drivers, although De Haan said this was occurring even before the coronavirus pandemic.

“There’s actually plenty of fuel, because refineries have been churning out more gas than ever before,” De Haan said. “But it’s the problem of getting the gas delivered in the last five to 50 miles. There aren’t enough truck drivers to deliver the fuel.”

People who are traveling out of Wyoming this weekend might actually get a deal on their gas, as De Haan noted gas prices in surrounding states, specifically South Dakota and Nebraska, are anywhere from 20 cents to 40 cents a gallon lower than in Wyoming.

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