MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Gas prices are higher than they've been in about four years - $4.39 a gallon on average for regular. That's according to AAA. Prices have been rising since oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has come to a virtual standstill. Houston Public Media's Energy and environment reporter Natalie Weber has been speaking with energy executives about what's next for the industry. Good morning, Natalie. Thanks for joining us.
NATALIE WEBER, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: So what does that $4.39 on average - means - meaning a lot of people are paying more than that - what does that mean for the whole U.S. economy?
WEBER: Yeah. So according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, this increase in gas prices is expected to cost Americans an additional $9.4 billion per month. Now, the institute says that Alabama drivers have been the most impacted, spending an additional $52 per month per person. And then just a few days ago, another study from the Brookings Institution found that low-income households have been hit the hardest by these rising fuel costs.
Well, sure. And I think anybody who drives has seen that and is kind of living with that. You know, Texas is the leading oil producer in the U.S. Are the companies there looking to ramp up drilling given the higher prices?
WEBER: Yeah. So at this point, many Texas companies are actually hesitant to increase their oil production because prices are so volatile. Last week, several industry leaders told state lawmakers during a committee hearing that these companies weren't really likely to significantly increase drilling in the near term. And that's because it takes a while for the companies to see a profit from a new well. So the supply disruptions that are causing higher oil prices very well may be resolved by then.
MARTIN: What else are we hearing from energy executives?
WEBER: Yeah. So the one word I keep hearing is uncertainty. About a month after the war began, the world's top oil and gas executives actually came to Houston for an annual energy conference, and over and over again, they said really the same thing. It's kind of hard to predict the war's long-term impacts on energy prices. And then industry leaders who gathered in Austin last week also told Texas lawmakers the same thing. We just really don't know how long this volatility is going to last.
MARTIN: So, Natalie, before we let you go, two of the U.S.'s four oil reserve sites are in Texas, and it's my understanding that the administration has made the decision to release some oil from the strategic reserves. Why isn't that helping more?
WEBER: Yeah, so a couple of things. One, the gas prices that we're seeing are still responsive to kind of global prices. So we're going to see them continue to follow that. But also, even though the administration is releasing oil, it's really not that much when you look at U.S. consumption. So the U.S. consumed on average about 20 million barrels of petroleum per day in 2023. That's according to the Department of Energy. Meanwhile, we know that the administration has released a total of 17.5 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. I know I just threw a lot of numbers at you, but to recap, basically, the amount of oil that has been released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve during the war so far wouldn't even cover one full day of U.S. crude oil consumption.
MARTIN: That's Natalie Weber from Houston Public Media. Natalie, thank you.
WEBER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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