After soaring to near-record heights in the District, gas prices have finally dipped — for now. The average gas price in D.C. was a penny short of its all-time high of $4.21 per gallon when it leveled off just after Easter, according to AAA’s fuel gauge report. The pain at the pump helped kill Gov. Martin O’Malley’s bid for a higher gas tax in Maryland, as well as a Virginia Senate initiative to raise the gas tax in line with inflation.
Average gas prices were at $4.03 per gallon in the metro area Monday, and $4.17 in the District. Prices dropped a few cents but then flattened since their steep climb over the past month, when area prices jumped 20 cents in just 30 days.
But that doesn’t mean prices are done rising.
The Energy Information Administration predicts prices will peak in May, topping out at $4.01 per gallon nationwide. The national average is about $3.90 now.
The summer average will be about $3.81 per gallon, up from $3.53 per gallon in 2011, the EIA said.
AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Lon Anderson said gas prices could still go as high as $4.25 in the Washington area this summer, despite the recent decline.
“We’re seeing some moderation,” he said. “Certainly our hope is that we’re close to the peak. What we’ve been saying all along is we didn’t expect prices to go much above $4.20 or $4.25.”
Gas prices soared over the last month as crude oil prices shot up, spurred by political disruptions in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the EIA. John Townsend of AAA Mid-Atlantic said local prices also jumped because five northeastern refineries shut down over the last two years.
But, Anderson said, gas prices may plummet in the fall, just as voters are thinking about their pocketbooks and whether to re-elect President Obama.
“Based on past experience, when you have really volatile increases, you also can have volatile falls,” Anderson said. “Maybe come this autumn, we might see volatile decline. One AAA economist predicts that by the end of the year we might see prices at $3 a gallon or below.”
