The Skyrocketing Cost of Gas Is Making People Think About Shaq’s Math
As gas prices reached a record-breaking high on Monday, people are reminiscing simpler times. Remember that 2018 Inside the NBA episode where former professional basketball player Shaquille O’Neal offered a theory to “solve” co-host Kenny Smith’s gas conundrum?
His solution: don’t wait till you empty out and will need to spend $80 on a full tank, just put in $20 when you’re halfway through to get it back up to full.
If only things were as simple. It looks like there’s no end yet to the gas price surge as Russia continues the war in Ukraine. According to the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), the firm that collects and calculates prices from AAA, the average price per gallon is now at $4.14, the highest since 2008.
In a report by CNN Business, Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for the OPIS, shared “I think we’ll hit $4.50 a gallon before it turns around. The risk is how bad this gets, how long this goes on. Even $5 a gallon nationwide is possible. I wouldn’t have predicted that before the fighting started.”
The recent surge was brought about by traders avoiding Russian oil because of the sanctions placed on its banking sector, and thus excluding millions of barrels from global supply. This has caused a market recovering from two years of Covid-19-driven economic slowdown to further tighten up on already limited supplies, raising inflation pressures everywhere.
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