SAN ANTONIO – Fall is the air — and at the pump.
The price of a gallon plunged 18 cents in the past week in San Antonio and a whopping 48 cents in just three weeks.
“It puts more money in your pocket,” said driver John Cortez.
Noticeably lower prices make a difference to Jesse Hamilton. He runs four food trucks that have a big appetite for unleaded. He spends a couple thousand dollars a month on fuel for his business.
“Obviously, that affects the bottom line,” he said. “But I can’t stop doing business.”
Some of the lowest fuel prices locally — between $2.76 and $2.79 — were spotted along Austin Highway near Harry Wurzbach.
Why the recent tumble?
With summer vacations over, there’s less demand to fill up the family SUV. Winter blends are cheaper to produce, and crude prices have been on the slide.
That’s until the Israel-Hamas war rattled the oil markets.
How will what’s happening 7,000 miles away affect the cost of filling up the gas tank in Texas?
Oil analysts say they expect little impact in the short term unless the fighting spreads to oil-producing nations like Iran.
“Some new caution signs have emerged with the recent attacks on Israel, potentially destabilizing a sensitive region. I’m hopeful the violence won’t spread, limiting the impact of these falling gas prices,” said Patrick DeHaan, chief analyst at GasBuddy.com. “Even with oil prices rising as a reaction to the attacks, I remain optimistic the national average could decline another 25-45 cents by late November.”
For now, consumers can expect prices to continue falling, relieving families trying to stretch their dollars.
“Right now, we’re already struggling as it is,” said driver Maurio Williams. “We have inflation costs, but nobody’s pay is going up. So it’s just a struggle.”
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