With summer weather taking over the Baltimore region, it?s hard to tell what?s getting motorists hotter ? the heat wave, or the cost of gas.
As of Tuesday, a gallon of regular unleaded gas cost an average of $2.86, the AAA reported. This price represented a slight decrease from the beginning of the week, when a gallon was priced a few cents higher. At this time last year, a gallon cost nearly $2.94.
With prices appearing to momentarily plateau, it is unclear which way they will go from there.
“We at AAA do not predict gas prices, only because there are so many variables,” said Troy Green, public affairs specialist with AAA Mid-Atlantic. But “demand has still been high as far as gas consumption by Americans for April, almost at record demand, like summer driving season had kicked off early.”
“Rising prices at the gas pump continue to play a key role in dampening consumers? short-term expectations,” Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board of Consumer Research Center, said in a statement. “This month?s decline was a combination of weakening expectations and a less favorable assessment of present-day conditions.”
As for what people can expect this summer, the figure of $4 per gallon tends to pop into some consumers? minds.
“We don?t know what will happen in the Middle East or what hurricane season will be like, but industry analysts on CNN yesterday and this morning said that we are going to top out at around $2.88, the high so far for Maryland,” Green said. “We?re seeing demand normally not seen until May or June, so we?re not going to say it may hit $4 a gallon.”
Other industry professionals also view the $4 mark as an unlikely event.
“I think [hitting the $4 mark] is a bit of a stretch as of right now,” Jason Toews, founder of BaltimoreGasPrices.com. “Prices would have to go up over a dollar per gallon [from where they are now] for that to happen. I wouldn?t be surprised to see the national average reach $3.10, $3.20 this summer, but not a whole lot higher.”
