Editorial

Got Cheap Gas? Thank Fracking

The average price of gas in Michigan is $2.00 per gallon, according to the Dec. 31 AAA report. The highest average price was $4.26 per gallon recorded on May 4, 2011.

ForTheRecord: Enjoying the cheap gas? This fall, U.S. Energy Information Administration Administrator Adam Sieminski said it would be much closer to those May 2011 $4-plus a gallon costs if not for increased oil production in the U.S.

The U.S. is producing about 3 million more barrels of oil per day from Jan. 2011 to July 2014, according to the Institute for Energy Research. The U.S. uses about 18 million barrels of crude oil per day.

“Shale oil and hydraulic fracturing are a big part of the slide in prices,” said John Griffin, spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute of Michigan.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.