Gasoline prices won’t stop rising through the Memorial Day holiday until finally peaking in June, when they will begin to fall, the federal government said Wednesday.
The Energy Information Administration released its weekly oil price analysis on Wednesday as the cost of gasoline reached nearly $4 per gallon in some parts of the country in the last week.
Gasoline retail prices have been tracking higher for months, with the cost of making a gallon of fuel reaching a 25-year high between February and March, according to the administration.
But that should level out beginning in the summer, as officials forecast gasoline prices lowering with the projected fall in crude oil prices, the “Week in Petroleum” report reads.
The Energy Information Administration projects that the Brent crude oil price will average $67 per barrel this summer, compared with an average of $75 per barrel last summer. The price of oil is the largest factor in setting the per-gallon price of gasoline. The Brent oil price on Wednesday hovered around $71 per barrel.
Gasoline prices are projected to keep rising from the April average of $2.74 per gallon to a summer peak of $2.83 per gallon in June. Prices will then fall gradually to $2.66 per gallon by September, according to the administration.
The average retail gasoline price rose by over 5 cents over the last week to $2.75 per gallon on April 8, which is 5 cents higher than the same time last year. West Coast prices saw the highest rise in the average price to $3.42 per gallon.
Since the government is reporting the average price of gasoline, the actual price being paid at the pump can be much higher.
AAA’s gasoline fuel report showed that in some parts of California, the retail price of gasoline was hovering closer to $4 per gallon. The higher prices are blamed on maintenance issues at California refineries.
But the increase in fuel price nationwide is a combination of higher oil prices due to OPEC supply cuts and U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and Iran, in addition to U.S. refiners switching to summer fuel blends that track higher in price.
Officials predict refinery production of gasoline will be 80,000 barrels per day higher than last summer. Demand for gasoline is also expected to rise by an average of 29,000 barrels per day compared with last summer’s level, which is about the same as the record summer average set in 2017, the agency says.
