National Average Gas and Diesel Prices for January 2023
Tracking the Great Reset through Gas Prices
My fellow Patriots,
The wrestling of supply versus demand is causing crazy price swings for both gas and diesel!
For the month of January 2023, gas prices began with a national average price of $3.208 per gallon. They rose through January 6th. Beginning the next day, the national average gas price decreased for 5 days to $3.267 per gallon. On January 12th, the prices began to rise again and they rose sharply for almost the rest of the month through January 28th to $3.510 per gallon. The next day, prices began to decline and they continued to decline through the rest of the month. Gas prices for January closed at $3.505 per gallon. As usual, all gas and diesel price data is from AAA.
For the national average diesel prices in January, the price opened up at $4.681 per gallon. The prices continued the decline from the previous month through the next day, at $4.678 per gallon. The next day, the price began to increase and did through January 4th to $4.688. Starting on January 5th, the national average diesel prices began a very sharp decline which lasted for 12 days through January 16th, ending at $4.597 per gallon. On January 17th, the diesel prices began to increase and they continued for 6 days in a row to $4.622 per gallon. The prices then decreased for one day by 1/10th of a cent to $4.621 per gallon. On January 24th, the prices began an extremely sharp increase which lasted for 4 days, causing the prices to rise to $4.689 per gallon. The price stayed the same the next day, but began to decrease the following day and the decrease continued for two days to $4.676 per gallon. On the last day of January 2023, the national average diesel price increased to $4.678 per gallon.
The month of January 2023 was a weird month for both gas and diesel prices, although gasoline was more normal that diesel. As with all markets, gas and diesel prices are controlled by two factors: supply and demand. The supply can be controlled by government policies and industry/business polices. The demand is obviously controlled by the consumers who purchase gasoline and diesel. On the supply side, at the end of 2022 and into 2023 there have been disasters at oil refineries that have slowed production leading to price increases. Fires at Chevron, Marathon, and two separate Valero refineries were the causes of these disasters. The Marathon article also talked of a BP/Cenovus Energy refinery in Toledo, OH that experienced an explosion which has temporarily closed the refinery. These compounding events will lead toward reduced gas and diesel production thus causing gas prices to increase.
At the same time, demand must be factored in as a reason for the prices. In terms of gasoline, people are still traveling to work and school so there will remain a fairly consistent demand for gasoline; but for diesel, demand will fluctuate more due to a decreased demand for goods across the country leading toward less diesel consumption. People’s savings accounts are lower than they have been in over a decade and the prices of all goods, but especially energy and food, are increasing. Because of less spending money, people are buying less non-essential goods, therefore less diesel trucks are needed to transport those goods, causing diesel demand to decrease. The demand for goods usually declines in January regardless of the state of the economy, but when that is paired with more people living paycheck-to-paycheck the demand for goods is going to decrease more than usual, obviously leading toward a decrease in diesel prices as demand for diesel fuel decreases.
There is always a wrestle of supply versus demand in any market that determines the price of goods. For gasoline, the decrease in the supply chain paired with the fairly consistent demand has led to price increases. For diesel, the decrease in supply and the decrease in demand caused the prices to decline for the majority of the month, but in the end, the decreased supply outweighed the decreased demand thus causing diesel prices to soar at the end of January 2023.