'Is your head in the sand?' Energy expert roasts GOP lawmaker for exaggerating gas prices

This weekend, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) took to X to complain about the latest gas prices in her home state, but she was caught in a "lie." "Over $4/gallon in South Carolina today," she posted.

But Patrick De Haan, the nonpartisan head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, was quick to point out on Monday that not only was her figure way off, she lives in one of the cheapest states to buy gasoline.

"Hi Nancy, time to download GasBuddy. Hundreds of stations in SC are at $2.99/gal or below, and not a single station has been reported to GasBuddy over $3.79/gal today in SC, it's amazing how you might have managed to find the most expensive BY FAR. Is your head in the sand?" wrote De Haan. He added, "It's weird you can't figure out how low SC really is right here: https://prices.gasbuddy.com where ANYONE can immediately see through your lies."

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Mace is one of eight House Republicans who voted to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) last week — the first time this has happened in U.S. history.

After years of cheap fuel costs due to the shale oil boom creating an unexpected glut, gas prices surged in 2022 to around $5 a gallon, driven partly by geopolitical instability like the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and partly by oil companies facing pressure from Wall Street to cut supply and boost profit margins.

Prices have eased somewhat this year, but have ticked up again modestly at the end of the summer. Despite this, the United States remains one of the cheaper nations to buy gas, with strong domestic production of fossil fuels ensuring prices stay lower than throughout Europe.