ALEXANDRIA, Va. - After
several months of gasoline prices hovering on the low end, pump prices have
advanced significantly in the last week, the News-Democrat reports. Analysts
predict that the cost of filling up will only climb higher, possibly topping $4
per gallon.
The national average for a
gallon of gasoline reached $3.688 on Monday. "All of the pundits were saying
that we were going to pay less for gas in 2013 than we did in 2012," said Mike
Right, AAA spokesman. "And, like with a lot of predications, they were right
for a while. But we've had some circumstances that have sort of piled on top of
each other. And I'm not so sure that it's going to turn around soon."
Those circumstances
include some oil refineries easing production or shutting down for maintenance,
and the cost of oil shooting up to around $3.11 per gallon. The industry is
also bracing for the price bump that happens when the summer blend fuel hits
the streets in April, which normally costs 10 cents to 20 cents more per gallon
than the winter blend.
Since 2000, gas has risen
around 50 cents from the first week of February until the summer??s peak price,
according to NACS spokesman Jeff Lenard. Across the country, gasoline has
averaged $3.54 the first week of February, which could mean an average peak
price of $4.04 this summer.
"One of the misperceptions
is that the guy selling the gas is responsible for the high prices and that
they benefit from the price increasing," said Lenard. "Actually, neither is
true. When a retailer gets his shipment and the price has gone up a nickel a
gallon but he looks around and sees that everyone else is selling gas for about
the same price as him, he can't raise the price a full nickel or he's going to
lose customers to his competitors."
Read more about what influences gas prices in
the 2013
NACS Retail Fuels Report.