Require a global recession.......

Trump promises dirt-cheap gas prices. That may require a global recession

From CNN's Matt Egan

Former President Donald Trump promised Thursday to make gasoline dirt-cheap again by slashing red tape and drilling for more oil.

“We’re going to get gasoline below $2 a gallon,” Trump said at the New York Economic Club.

However, some experts warn it could take an economic calamity to make that happen.

“Think about Covid. That’s the type of situation you would need to get gasoline under $2,” Andy Lipow, president of consulting firm Lipow Oil Associates, told CNN in a phone interview. “You would need a significant economic downturn across the world – including in the US – that substantially and negatively impacts demand. You’d need oil at $40.

Trump vowed to “end Kamala Harris’ anti-energy crusade,” a claim that does not match up with the fact that America is producing more oil now than at any point under his presidency.

US oil production recently stood at 13.4 million barrels per day, according to weekly federal data. That is higher than the pre-Covid peak of 13.1 million under Trump – and it is higher any other point in US history.

Trump on Thursday bragged about gas prices tumbling to $1.87 a gallon during his time in office. In fact, at one point in the spring of 2020 gas prices dropped below $1.80 a gallon.

However, many Americans could not take advantage of those ultra-low prices because they took place during the height of the Covid-19 crisis.

“I don’t think anyone wants to return to those pandemic times,” Lipow said.