UTEP Prof Says Dealing With Afghan Refugees Partly Cause High Gas Prices

If you drive a car you've probably noticed that gas prices are going up. Prices usually go up during the summer because people are driving on their summer vacations and why wouldn't gas companies take advantage of that, amirite? El Pasoans know that we always pay on the higher end of the scale for gasoline even though we have a refinery here in town. We're used to it but a UTEP professor says that that there is a perfectly good reason why we are paying higher prices at the pump right now.

It's the refugees from Afghanistan. Yup, that's what's partially causing gasoline prices in El Paso to go up. Tom Fullerton spoke to a local news station and told them that "issues with the mass migration out of Central America as well as the arrival of the Afghan refugees and the village camps set up... on the ground of Fort Bliss.”

Come. On. That is the silliest thing I've ever heard. In May of this year, AAA said that we were paying high prices because of COVID. Anytime there is a hurricane El Pasoans get hit at the gas pump.

AAA says that right now you are paying about $3.02 for a gallon of gas, but the average in Texas is about $2.81 per gallon. If you wander around town you'll more likely see prices closer to $3.15 per gallon. Either way, the idea that because there is a higher demand for gasoline because of refugees is just silly. Even with all the extra demand, El Paso is nowhere near as population heavy as Houston or Dallas and they aren't paying significantly higher gas prices. I'm sure Professor Fullerton knows what he's talking about but the idea that refugees are driving up prices sounds a little off base.