RICHMOND, Ky. (LEX 18) — It's been more than a month since President-elect Donald Trump won the presidential election.
One of his campaign slogans reads 'drill, baby drill', which is his push for a less expensive economy by boosting oil supplies after consumer prices soared during the pandemic.
His solution to combat the prices? Speed up drilling and boost oil supplies.
The top five gasoline-producing countries are Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, the United States and Canada. Together, all of these produce 52% of the global supply that's enjoyed by 195 countries worldwide, according to Eastern Kentucky University assistant professor and global supply chain management program director James Kirby Easterling.
"So, I think what could happen is that China and Russia in particular — if we start increasing the amount of gas that we produce in the United States they may actually reduce the amount of gasoline that they are producing," explains Easterling. "Which in turn would keep the gas prices that we see at the pumps."
Easterling believes we could see some gas relief going into 2025, but not by much. "I think in 2025, we're going to see some continued reductions at the gas pump. I don't think anyone should expect to see gasoline at two dollars a gallon."
"They're gonna do what's best for them and in fact what might be best for them is to actually reduce or slow the amount of gasoline they're producing. Again, it's a global economy for gasoline. Which would keep those prices somewhat high."
AAA reports that, as of Sunday, the national average price of gas is $3.04, and Kentucky's average is $2.77.
Aside from gas, Trump also claims boosting oil supplies could reduce other costs as well, saying, "We've been conditioned to pay those higher prices and there really isn't that much of an incentive to decrease them going forward."
Easterling says that even though things are expensive from a consumer perspective, manufacturers have little incentive to reduce the price.
"If you look at all of the changes that the Federal Reserve has made over the last few years, with one rate increase after the other. With the whole perspective on trying to tame or to reduce demand. As a measure of reducing inflation," said Easterling.
This means costs across the board, including gas prices, won't change drastically if oil supplies are boosted.
"I think we'll continue to see some reductions going forward and I think going into the new year there's lots of reasons to be optimistic," Easterling expresses.
