Deputy Energy Secretary Won't Predict How High Gas Prices Will Go
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Gasoline prices are still going up, so how much higher will gas prices go?
In an interview seen only on KDKA-TV, that was one of the many questions money editor Jon Delano asked the deputy of energy on Thursday.
Delano: How much more will gasoline prices go up in the days ahead?
Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk: What we really have here is a double-whammy. We already had high gas prices caused by the COVID crisis. And then, of course, Putin decides to invade Ukraine with absolutely no reason to do so.
The slow response of oil companies to keep up with post-COVID demand for gasoline, coupled with Putin's war and the boycott of Russian oil, sent gas prices spiking, Turk said. But he said a meeting he had with oil producers in Texas this week could help.
"They are ramping up production, and so that will help fill this void in near-term production," Turk said.
As for how much higher gas prices could do, Turk was non-committal, noting the good news on Thursday that the price of a barrel of oil is dropping.
"It got to be as high as $127 a barrel," he said. "Now, it's back down as I'm speaking. At least five minutes ago when I checked the last time, got down to $107 dollars per barrel. But it's a volatile market."
The deputy secretary said he hopes American oil producers would not engage in price gouging in response to Putin's war, but he deferred to other agencies as to whether that is happening.
"They're others in the inter-agency, other departments, Department of Justice, FTC, others who look at that specifically," he said.
So far, no word from the feds that price gouging has occurred. KDKA's Jon Delano also asked Turk about Governor Tom Wolf and four other governors' call to suspend the federal gas tax.
Delano: Is it time to suspend the federal gas tax?
Turk: The secretary and I, all of us in the department, have been engaging with the White House, engaging with members of Congress on this issue.
No decision has been made yet, but alleviating the pain at the pump, says Turk, is key for President Joe Biden.
"Hyper-focused at what real people in the real world are paying at the pump, how that impacts their family finances and other kinds of things," Turk said.
