The two algae men in the White House aren’t lowering the price of fuel?
Via Detroit FREEP
The recent run-up in gasoline prices will make the Fourth of July weekend the most costly for motorists since 2008.
Prices will average about $3.68 a gallon for regular grade gas, up 17 cents from last year but well below the all-time $4.11 record set just after July 4, 2008.
Rising crude oil prices have been driving an unseasonably early summer run-up on retail gas prices, mostly on continued fears of political unrest in Iraq. Benchmark West Texas crude oil, at $105.74 a barrel Friday, remains stubbornly close to 9-month highs. Brent crude, at $113.31 a barrel, has jumped more than 5% the past two weeks on fears that Iraqi oil exports will be slashed if violence spreads.
Still, gas prices may be near their 2014 peak. Tom Kloza, senior energy analyst for gasbuddy.com, expects a $3.75 top.
“Demand during the summer looks to be brisk, but it will be hard-pressed to match last year’s consumption rate. Year-to-date, U.S. motor fuel demand has averaged about 365 million gallons per day, up about 1.7% from the same period in 2013,” Kloza said. “But lower demand looms through most of 2014 thanks to less driving by millennials and an increasingly more efficient light-vehicle fleet.”