As consumers in the United States continue to try to rally from the 2008 worldwide recession, the cost of gasoline continues to put wrecking ball dent in their weekly budgets. What once was a $20 fill up when gasoline prices were near $1 in 2001 remains a $75 fill up as gasoline prices now have found a home above $3 a gallon in 2012. But now GasBuddy is striking fear in the hearts and the right foot of the motoring public by predicting the gasoline price situation to get even worse this year. Or will it?
Gasoline Prices: $5 a Gallon
In its annual price forecast, GasBuddy predicted supply and demand factors along with rising tensions in Iran to steadily push gasoline prices well above $4 a gallon by Memorial Day. For example, the U.S. national average gasoline price per gallon will range from $3.75 to $4.15 in May, peaking around Memorial Day when the summer driving season takes the green flag.
Gasoline Prices: Big Cities Pay More
Worse yet, major metropolitan centers such as Chicago or Los Angeles could see prices flirt with $5 a gallon, GasBuddy says. Memorial Day gasoline prices in Indianapolis could reach $4.25 per gallon and $4.95 per gallon in Chicago, according to GasBuddy. Gasoline prices will further skyrocket if Iran closes off a vital oil tanker passageway, GasBuddy says. But will they? Let’s take a look at recent predictions.
Gasoline Prices: Past Predictions
GasBuddy representatives have appeared and forecasted gasoline prices on ABC Nightline, Fox News, NBC’s Today Show and National Public Radio. GasBuddy says it correctly forecasted Memorial Day 2011 gasoline prices in January 2011 and correctly predicted Thanksgiving Day 2011 gasoline prices in August 2011.
Gasoline Prices: Prediction Bust
On Feb. 23, 2011, a USAToday article quoted global experts who predicted rising tensions in Lybia and elsewhere across the oil-rich Middle East could push gasoline prices past $5 a gallon. A few weeks earlier in December 2010, former Shell President John Hofmeister predicted gasoline prices to break the $5 barrier as well. Fortunately for motorists, those predictions never materialized.
Gasoline Prices: We’ll Have to Wait
As for $5-a-gallon gasoline prices in 2012, the motoring world will have to wait and see. Perhaps tensions will calm in Iraq and a seemingly surprisingly warmer-than-normal winter in the Northern United States may help push gasoline supply inventories up and gasoline prices down. Certainly the call for gasoline prices to reach $5-a-gallon will drive web surfers to GasBuddy for the next several months. But will gasoline prices actually rise that much? We’ll just have to wait and see.