People Will Panic When Gas Prices Surge To $7 A Gallon In The Coming Weeks

Prepare to see gas prices surge to nearly $7 this driving season! A supply and demand crisis is gripping the market right now, and the national inventory is falling short of experts’ estimates for this time of the year. A few weeks from now, paying $4 per gallon of gasoline will become the reality for millions of Americans. And executives in the industry are pointing to higher pressure on crude oil markets, refinery disruptions, and increased volatility as the drivers of the coming price spike that could push the cost of a gallon of gasoline to double or triple in many states in the coming months!
This is going to be another tough year for U.S. motorists. We enjoyed a few months of lower gas prices after the historic rise that drove the national average to above $5 in 2022. But now costs at the pump are surging rapidly, and several factors are combining to create a new price spiral over the next few weeks and months.
In an interview with Insider, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan warned U.S. drivers to brace for a spike in gas prices due to refinery shutdowns and amid renewed energy demand from China as the Asian nation reopens its economy. "2023 is not going to be a cakewalk for motorists. It is going to be expensive," De Haan noted in the firm’s March 2023 fuel outlook report.
GasBuddy predicts the national average price of gas at the pump to top around $4 a gallon in most major U.S. cities just a few weeks from now. And by this year’s driving season, when demand shots up amid the summer break, many U.S. cities are likely to see gas prices approach nearly $7 a gallon!
Some cities in the West Coast state of California, such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, aren’t that far from that average already. Meaning that they could see prices three times higher than the current national average by the summer. "Basically, curveballs are coming from every direction," De Haan stressed. "I don't think we've ever seen such an amount of volatility as we are seeing this year, and that will be a trend that likely continues to lead to wider uncertainty over fuel prices for the rest of 2023," he added. According to the executive, the rebound in gas prices is already starting and it will only accelerate from here on, as refineries close down for maintenance after a rough winter and curb the production of gasoline and diesel.
While during this time in 2022 refiners were operating at full capacity, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that for the week ended on March 3rd, refiners were operating at just 85.2% capacity due to heavy maintenance at several key pipelines. Demand, however, has stayed strong. And the AAA says that the imbalance between supply and demand will likely add further stress for U.S. drivers in the next few days. "The increase in gas demand, amid tighter supplies, has contributed to rising pump prices. If demand continues to grow, drivers will likely continue to see pump prices increase," the association noted.
In fact, gas prices are set to rise by a minimum of 62 cents by Memorial Day, experts with the association said. Conditions in the oil market, the gasoline and diesel market, and in the auto industry are deteriorating faster than anyone could have imagined. A nightmare scenario is now unfolding, and U.S. drivers should get ready for more pain and uncertainty ahead as the perfect storm begins.