Bloomberg — U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said US gasoline prices should fall further after dropping to less than $4 a gallon for the first time since March.
“We hope that that’s true but, again, it can be impacted by what’s happening globally,” Granholm said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
An Energy Information Administration outlook predicts that prices will average 3.78 cents per gallon in the fourth quarter. Granholm said that forecast should remain on track barring unforeseen “global events.”
Inflation, which has been at its highest point in four decades this year is being slowed by falling fuel prices. This has impacted consumer spending as well as prompted Republicans to criticize President Joe Biden’s rise in price. In June, the average gasoline price in America hit $5.016.
Biden extolled the drop in gas prices in advance of the US midterm elections. Democrats have a narrow House majority, and one vote advantage in the Senate.
The administration took “unprecedented steps to moderate supply and demand,” such as releasing oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Granholm said.
She pointed to the Inflation Reduction Act, a package of climate, energy, health-care and tax measures passed by Congress and awaiting Biden’s signature, that will give rebates to people buying new electric vehicles and promote charging stations.
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