Fuel Prices Ease as Red Sea Tensions Cool

Yesterday finally gave some relief from the meteoric rise both gasoline and diesel pricing the last month.  Most of which has been attributed as collateral damage to increased Russian oil sanctions, designed to affect those countries still purchasing such as China and India.  In short, with those large buyers switching to US approved sources, it raises the price as demand increases.  Unfortunately, Russian products being sold actually kept pricing in check.  News that the US and India have a trade deal in place might continue to keep pricing higher.  Yesterday’s steep drop centered around news of Houthis formally acknowledging the pausing of any shipping attacks in the Red Sea.  This immediately reducing rates, time, and additional costs avoiding the area.  Now that the shutdown is over, many have said we could see demand and pricing pick up as federal activity, funding, and curtailed travel gets back to normal.  But if that was true, wouldn’t we have seen pricing dip while the shutdown was in place?  As we head into a slower overall demand time, its hard to envision pricing staying where it presently resides.