Gasoline prices dipped to just under the $4 mark for the first time in more than five months — good news for consumers who are struggling with high prices for many other essentials. AAA said the US national average for a gallon of regular was $3.99 on Thursday. Prices have dropped 15 cents in the past week and 68 cents in the last month, according to the auto club. The shopping app GasBuddy reported that the national average was already down to $3.98 on Wednesday. Also read: US inflation will likely stay high even as gas prices fall Falling prices for gas, airline tickets and clothes are giving consumers a bit of relief, although inflation is still close to a four-decade high. Oil prices began rising in mid-2020 as economies recovered from the initial shock of the pandemic. They rose again when the U.S. and allies announced sanctions against Russian oil over Russia's war against Ukraine. Recently, however, oil prices have dropped on concern about slowing economic growth around the world. U.S. benchmark crude oil has recently dipped close to $90 a barrel from over $120 a barrel in June. High prices also may be causing U.S. motorists to drive less. Gasoline demand in early August was down 3.3% from the same week last year after tracking more closely to 2021 numbers earlier in the summer. Prices at the pump are likely to be a major issue heading into the mid-term elections in November. Republicans blame President Joe Biden for the high gasoline prices, seizing on his decisions to cancel a permit for a major pipeline and suspend new oil and gas leases on federal lands. Also read: Fuel, natural gas price hikes to have domino effect on economy: DCCI Biden said over the weekend that a family with two cars is saving $100 a month because prices have dropped from their peak in mid-June. “That's breathing room,” he tweeted. “And we're not letting up any time soon.” Biden has also sparred with oil companies, accusing them of not producing as much oil and gasoline as they could while posting huge profits. “Exxon made more money than God this year,” he said in June. Exxon said it has increased oil production. The CEO of Chevron said Biden was trying to vilify his industry. The nationwide average for gas hasn't been under $4 since early March. Prices topped out at $5.02 a gallon on June 14, according to AAA. They declined slowly the rest of June, then began dropping more rapidly. Motorists in California and Hawaii are still paying above $5, and other states in the West are paying close to that. The cheapest gas is in Texas and several other states in the South and Midwest. A year ago, the nationwide average price was around $3.20 a gallon.

A whopping 63 percent of Americans rated the U.S. economy as bad, with 86 percent saying it was because of inflation, closely followed by gas prices at 82 percent, showed a new CBS News poll released on Sunday. In terms of lowering gas prices, the majority of the respondents, at 65 percent, believed that the government "can do more." Also Read: Global shares mixed with eyes on inflation, US economy In addition, "pocketbook issues -- the economy and inflation -- rank as top priorities for Americans," said the survey, noting that " (Joe) Biden continues to get low marks on handling them." Also Read: Trump addresses coronavirus' heavy impact on the US economy  

President Joe Biden is preparing to order the release of up to 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve, according to two people familiar with the decision, in a bid to control energy prices that have spiked as the U.S. and allies have imposed steep sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine The announcement could come as soon as Thursday, when the White House says Biden is planning to deliver remarks on his administration’s plans to combat rising gas prices. The duration of the release hasn’t been finalized but could last for several months. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the decision. High oil prices have not coaxed more production, creating a challenge for Biden. The president has seen his popularity sink as inflation reached a 40-year high in February and the cost of petroleum and gasoline climbed after Russia invaded Ukraine. Crude oil on Wednesday traded at nearly $105 a barrel, up from about $60 a year ago. Still, oil producers have been more focused on meeting the needs of investors, according to a survey released last week by the Dallas Federal Reserve. About 59% of the executives surveyed said investor pressure to preserve “capital discipline” amid high prices was the reason they weren’t pumping more, while fewer than 10% blamed government regulation. Read: Ukraine war fuels global economic downturn The steady release from the reserves would be a meaningful sum and come near to closing the domestic production gap relative to February 2020, before the coronavirus caused a steep decline in oil output. The Biden administration in November announced the release of 50 million barrels from the strategic reserve in coordination with other countries. And after the Ukrainian war began, the U.S. and 30 other countries agreed to an additional release of 60 million barrels from reserves, with half of the total coming from the U.S. According to the Department of Energy, which manages it, more than 568 million barrels of oil were held in the reserve as of Mar. 25. News of the administration’s planning was first reported by Bloomberg.  

Textile millers have urged the government not to raise the gas prices, saying it will raise production cost. They urged the government to address the nagging gas crisis through raising local productions. Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, a representative body of the local textile mills, made the call while addressing a press conference at a hotel in the city on Saturday.  “If the gas prices are raised further, it will have a big impact on the local textile manufacturers which have been supplying backward linkages to the export oriented readymade garment (RMG) industries,” said BTMA president Mohammad Ali Khokon. He claimed that if gas prices are raised, it will escalate their production cost by 25 percent which will make the local textiles non-competitive in the global market.  He alleged that currently local textile millers have been experiencing a severe gas crisis which pushed them to halt their productions. Also read: Defying rejection, Petrobangla, 7 other distributors again push for gas price hike “Due to the gas crisis for the last three months, we apprehend, textile productions will incur a loss of $1.5 billion in their supply to the local market while $2 billion for the export market—the RMG sector”, he added. The BTMA also demanded a long term energy policy of 5 years from the government so that they could design a long term plan in their production on the basis of that policy.  “We want a business-friendly energy policy,” said Khokon. BTMA Vice Presidents Fazlul Hoque and Abdullah Al Mamun, directors Md Mosharaf Hossain and Saleudh Zaman Khan were also present at the press conference. Khokon alleged that Titas Gas, despite being profitable according to its balance sheet’s figure, has moved a proposal to the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission to raise gas price which is totally unfair. He said only 8 percent of the Titas Gas company’s share is held by the public while remaining 92 percent by the state. But Titas gas is desperate to raise gas prices in order to protect the 8 percent public shareholders interest, he alleged. The BTMA president said that they have to operate captive power plants having 1700 MW capacity to ensure uninterrupted power supply to their mills against the backdrop of the failure of the authorities concerned to ensure smooth supply. He said currently textile mills have to pay Tk 13.85 per unit of gas which was last raised in 2019. The BTMA leaders said they have been facing a severe crisis in the last two years due to the Covid-19 situation. Also read: FBCCI concerned over move to hike gas price They said that in the year 2020 they could not do business . “In 2021 we had to go through a recovery process and we are planning this year to make profit. The move to raise gas prices will come as a big blow to this plan”, said the BTMA president. Referring to the experts view, he said the current gas crisis could be managed through increasing local production by installing compressors at the gas fields. Khokon also demanded installation of  Electrical Volume Corrector (EVC) gas meters at the textile mills to ensure proper billing. Textile mills have to pay a higher price than that of their consumption due to the non-existence of the EVC meters. “We could not get the correct reading from the gas distribution companies as existing meters are not capable of providing correct reading”, he said.