GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Head of Petroleum Analysis for GasBuddy Patrick De Haan explains one of the main reasons gas prices are declining.
“Oil prices are plummeting today on fears of an economic slowdown or a recession. That could send prices down even further in the next couple of weeks, in fact it’s not impossible,” De Haan says.
De Haan adds the market is still unpredictable, but he is hopeful.
“There could be the potential that in the weeks ahead some stations in Wisconsin could go back under the four dollar mark,” says De Haan.
De Haan says this is not just a Midwest trend, but the national average is decreasing as well.
Some motorists are still unhappy with the prices they are paying.
“It’s not enough it should go down a lot faster, as fast as it went up it should go down that much,” says motorist Chad Garrigan.
See gas prices in your area with GasBuddy.
With gas prices declining, tourism could be on the rise in northeast Wisconsin.
“The biggest effect when we talk about gas prices and tourism is actually the money that is leftover in folks pocket after they fill up,” says Meisner.
Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Discover Green Bay Nick Meisner says declining prices could mean more foot traffic for Green Bay.
“As gas prices come down, we see people having more income to go out to eat or maybe stay an extra night,” says Meisner.
Meisner says although gas prices have been high this summer, tourism in Green Bay has not slowed down.
“We actually have campaigns ready to go in case we see a slow down, but we haven’t had to launch those yet. It’s good to see gas prices come down, and, hopefully, we can continue to do our normal marketing,” Meisner says.
Meisner also adds that he expects tourism to keep increasing as the prices decrease — especially for all the events Green Bay has planned this summer.
