The downward trend in gasoline retail prices is likely to end and drivers will have to wait for a new uptrend in prices, with a forecast of a peak of up to $ 4 per gallon by spring.
Its average national average retail prices gasoline have been on a downward trend since peaking at $ 3,505 for the week ended November 8, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The national average fell to $ 27 per gallon in the week ended December 3,375, with the agency forecasting prices to fall to $ 3,01 per gallon in January and $ 2,88 per gallon in early December. gallon in 2022.
But its chief oil analyst Gasbuddy, Patrick De Haan, believes that the downward trend has been reversed.
"With oil returning to $ 76 a barrel, it is becoming clearer that our one-month course of falling gas prices is likely to come to an end," de Haan said in a tweet. "Expect a rise in the Great Lakes soon, which could push the national average a few cents soon. "The West Coast could also see some increase soon."
His remarks were based on statements he made the day before, when he predicted that a rise in the price of wholesale petrol would squeeze profits at service stations in many states, "causing a possible rise soon".
"Gas prices are expected to rise soon in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and the Kentucky and Illinois areas as soon as tomorrow, as retail gas prices are now below margin in many of these areas," he wrote. De Haan on Twitter, adding that he expects a jump of between $ 3,09 and $ 3,25 per gallon in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio and higher than that in Illinois.
As of Dec. 28, gasoline retail prices in those four states were: $ 3.001 in Ohio, $ 3.089 in Michigan, $ 3.041 in Indiana and $ 3.371 in Illinois, according to the AAA.
Tom Kloza, head of energy analysis at IHS Markit Oil Price Information Service, said in a Twitter post on December 27 that he too believes the fall in gas prices is over - at least for now.
"Cash prices for petrol have risen by 4 carats (East of the Rockies) to 16 carats (PNW). "A downward trend in retail pump prices is probably over by now," Kloza wrote.
The rate of decline in gas prices has slowed in line with declining demand, the AAA said last week, noting that a possible rise in crude prices is likely to trigger higher pump prices.
"Usually, falling demand and rising supply would support higher reductions in pump prices, but fluctuations in crude oil prices have helped keep pump prices high. "If crude prices continue to rise, pump prices will probably follow suit," the agency said.
Rising gas prices were one of the faces of the broader inflation trend, disappointing drivers and becoming a political problem for the Biden government, which announced in Thanksgiving week that it would release slack from the national strategic reserve in an effort to reduce pump prices.
While gasoline prices have fallen recently, they remain well above last year's national average of $ 2,252 per gallon.
Republicans have criticized President Joe Biden for relying on OPEC to increase supply to meet higher pump prices, rather than boosting domestic oil production.
Following his inauguration in January, Biden signed executive orders that closed the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which could transport oil to the United States from oil wells in Alberta, Canada. The administration also put a freeze on some new drilling sites.
Fuel prices are one of the most important drivers of inflation in the United States, which jumped to several decades high in November.
