While prices at the pump aren't likely to reach the sticker-shock $4-plus highs of 2008, analysts anticipate gasoline will flirt with the $3-a-gallon mark over the summer, at least partly because of oil price speculation.


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While prices at the pump aren't likely to reach the sticker-shock $4-plus highs of 2008, analysts anticipate gasoline will flirt with the $3-a-gallon mark over the summer, at least partly because of oil price speculation. “We're hoping that it will level off some, but we're not convinced that it will,” said Mary Novak, managing director for energy services at IHS Global Insight. As motorists hit the road last week for spring break with the summer driving season nearing, Texas gasoline prices also revved up, rising for the fourth consecutive week to highs not seen since October 2008, three months after the price hit records above $4 at pumps nationwide. The statewide average for a gallon of regular stood at $2.69 at the end of the week, up from $2.46 a month earlier and $1.82 a year ago. In Houston, a gallon was a few cents cheaper, but still up about a quarter from a month ago and 86 cents compared with last year, according to data from AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. The increases are typical for this time of year, said Dan Ronan, a spokesman for AAA Texas-New Mexico. Refiners begin shutting down units for maintenance and switching from making winter fuel to summer blends that cost slightly more. Retailers, which often make more selling convenience store items than they do on gasoline, also may have taken advantage of higher seasonal demand by tacking a few pennies onto the pump price, Ronan said. But the biggest influence on gasoline prices is the cost of crude oil. Over the past month, oil has traded between $79 and about $83 a barrel, prices many analysts say are higher than supply and demand fundamentals warrant.

Source: Analysts say $3-a-gallon gas possible this summer