Locals dealing with high gas prices in a variety of ways

By JP EDGE and CHRIS PETERSON

Hungry Horse News

The average gas price in Flathead County is now about $4.04 per gallon, according to AAA Montana.

That’s still lower than the national average of $4.14 a gallon, but well above the average price of $2.94 a gallon in April 2021. Diesel is even worse, with prices just over $5 a gallon.

Local drivers saying they’re dealing with the higher prices in different ways. We talked to some as they filled their rigs recently.

“I work in construction, and to offset prices, I have to charge the customers more, and they are willing to pay, but we’ve also been so busy. I just hope to see prices go down by summer,” Eric Hallett of Columbia Falls said recently.

Others aren’t filling their tanks or curbing their travel.

“Mostly we’ve been staying in, I can’t even fill up the tank, I just put $40 in or $50 in at a time. I have a 4-year-old son so we’ve been doing a lot of family bonding, like baking and I read to him,” Christina Ost–Veigel of Columbia Falls said.

“I try to save by combining trips, so I can get multiple things done everytime I go out and do less driving. But I don’t think prices are going to go down anytime soon,” Chad Wyman of Columbia Falls said.

Others are irate at Washington.

“There’s not much we can do about it, and I have to drive all the way to Deer Lodge. To get lower gas prices, I think we need to get a new president because it was not like this when we were energy independent,” Kim Sova of Columbia Falls said.

One driver said they get better gas mileage with the more expensive higher grade fuels.

“Spending more and buying the plus or premium gets a lot better gas mileage, especially with my truck. I only fill it up a quarter of the way and can get five trips to Kalispell and back, as opposed to two or three trips in the truck with the cheaper stuff,” Kristen Dull said.

Ian Moore said he was willing to make the sacrifice.

“I’m just doing my part to help ease the suffering of the people of Ukraine, and if it means paying more in gas I’m okay with that. There’s plenty of jobs hiring around here that are of fair wages. My best advice to deal with the higher prices is to increase your income and drive less,” he said.

With the war in Ukraine and uncertainty in the markets, coupled with oil prices around $93 to $98 a barrel, the U.S. Energy Information Administration still predicts a somewhat lower price toward the end of the year and into 2023 as domestic production ramps up, but that’s still highly uncertain, it cautions.

“We forecast gasoline prices will average $3.71 a gallon in the second half of ’22, and we forecast diesel prices will average $4.04 a gallon over the same period. However, actual prices could be significantly affected by the same factors that affect crude oil prices,” the administration notes.

In other words, higher fuel prices could be here to stay for awhile.