Gas Prices See Dip But Residents Want It To Come Down More

By Dean Wright, The Bristol Press

July 22, 2022

With inflation rates at record highs throughout the United States, gas prices have started to dip over the last two months, but some residents say it’s still not enough.

Robert Glanz was at a Bristol Xpress Fuel station Wednesday and he said is hoping to see gas continue to drop to lower than $3.25 a gallon. Despite gas prices, his driving plans haven’t changed much.

“It puts a dent in the wallet. Don’t get me wrong,” he said. ”I’m not a rich man. For me, I used to come here and put $20 in the tank and it’d last me seven days. Now, I’m putting $60 just to go town to town to work.”

Glanz said his brother runs a home oil delivery service and gas prices, despite lowering, have impacted his ability to travel in the South Windsor area.

Roberta Challman, also at a Xpress Fuel, said her family has been traveling with its recreational vehicle and the drop in gas prices has been good for them.

“Still, it’s high,” she said. “We were traveling to Myrtle Beach about a month and a half ago and were paying $5.09 a gallon. It definitely makes an impact.”

In particular, however, Challman said she was concerned about her son and daughter’s families as well as others.

“Either fill up your car or buy groceries, basically like everybody else,” said Challman. “Even with decent paying jobs, but when you’re paying $4 or $5 for gas, it’s one or the other or cut down on everything. And you have to have gas and food.”

Yarielis Alamo at a New Britain Noble Gas station near the Farmington town line said she was happy gas was starting to drop.

“Paying almost $5 of gas was crazy since I work two jobs,” she said. “I drive down the street, which isn’t far, but I also do Amazon and I go very far. I have to put almost $20 in my car every day. I’ve been trying to find ways to track my miles and signing up for memberships to get things cheaper.”

Alamo said she missed gas being cheaper and she would take any opportunity to not pay $5 per gallon at the pump.

“Obviously dropping in price has helped,” said Charlie McCarroll at a Plainville Exxon Mobil station. “But I was just saying to a guy in the car . . . when we get to $3.99 we’ll be gleeful, but that’s only because it’s relative.”

McCarroll emphasized how substantially cheaper fuel prices had been a year ago in Connecticut.

“To say it is better, yeah, but it’s all relative and it still sucks,” he said. “There’s a lot of guilt to go around. The oil companies are not pristinely clean.”

McCarroll also criticized the Federal government. He said he wasn’t opposed to green efforts to replace petroleum-based fuel but he felt it was important to make certain such technologies were able to fully satisfy travel demands. He said he felt Federal attempts to go green might be too early and motivated by politics.

With a residence in Florida and a trip planned to Maine, McCarroll said he still intended to travel to both destinations despite prices.

“I’ll acclimate, reluctantly, but I’ll acclimate,” he said.

Jen Moquete, nearby McCarroll at the same station, also noted the relativity of high fuel prices in comparison to years past.

“I drive all over the place (professionally) to see kids in their houses in Hartford and Waterbury,” she said. “Recently, I went on vacation and I opted to fly. Why deal with the hassle of driving and paying for gas prices? But I’m happy they dropped.”

Moquete expressed concern with how fuel prices were affecting the price of groceries. She said she felt places in Europe often had better public transit options in comparison to the U.S as well.

According to a report issued by AAA, Monday, the national average of gas fell 15 cents the week before to $4.52 a gallon. A barrel of oil now costs around the mid-$90, a drop of about $20 from a previous price of $110 over two weeks ago. The report continued to state that national gas is about 46 cents cheaper than it was a month ago but $1.36 more than it was a year ago. As of Wednesday, AAA reported the average price of gas in Connecticut to be $4.47 a gallon.