IOWA, USA — Talk about a tumble to fill your tank: Iowa gas prices have seemed to fall drastically since their expensive high over the summer.
With the war in Ukraine continuing, and now more sanctions coming for the Kremlin's much-needed energy exports, the petroleum market could be impacted. Effective Monday, the G-7 nations placed a $60-per-barrel cap on Russian oil exports.
But there is good news: he United States really doesn't rely on Russian oil at all.
"The impact of this action is going to be limited on the local market," Iowa State University professor Dr. GianCarlo Moschini said.
So there really won't be much of an impact in the U.S., let alone Iowa, from the global political move.
There's certainly still a gas price elephant in the room though.
"Gas prices in Des Moines are averaging about $2.80 a gallon right now. That's one of the cheapest prices in the U.S., definitely in the Plains states," Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis, told Local 5 Monday.
The reason simply comes down to supply and demand.
"Americans generally don't drive as much in the winter. I've yet to see an RV going down I-80 with a boat behind it in the month of December," De Haan added.
Iowa's statewide average per gallon price is about 30 cents higher than metro Des Moines'. That comes down to the essence of capitalism.
"There's a major C-store chain [Casey's] based in Des Moines that has a lot of stations. There's a very high level of competition throughout Des Moines; that's good news for consumers. Where there are a lot of stations, there tends to be more competition. When there's more competition prices tend to be lower," De Haan explained.
He doesn't expect prices to move very much until the eventual ramp-up in travel come spring.