Just days from the start of the summer driving season on Memorial Day weekend, the national average retail gasoline price hit a record $3.22 a gallon, according to a Department of Energy report Monday.
Nationally, prices have jumped 11 cents a gallon in the past week and 35 cents a gallon during the past month.
“We’re seeing new records just about everywhere in the country,” said Mike Right, a spokesman for AAA.
As recently as Sunday, the St. Louis area appeared to have escaped the records, with the average pump price at $3 a gallon in St. Louis and surrounding Missouri suburbs and $3.23 in the Metro East, according to AAA.
But AAA numbers for Sunday did not reflect what looked to be a major price spike Monday afternoon. On the website stlouisgasprices.com, St. Louis area motorists reported, almost universally, gas prices at $3.17 per gallon or more in Missouri, and more than $3.30 per gallon in the Metro East area, where the fuel tax is higher.
Gasoline prices can vary widely by region, but a confluence of market forces is helping to push prices up across the country. They include higher prices for crude oil, a spate of unplanned refinery outages, limited fuel imports and increased demand.
Crude oil rose above $66 a barrel to the highest level in three weeks as refineries stepped up production of gasoline to meet increased demand this summer.
Because gasoline retailers buy several days worth of supply at a time, prices aren’t expected to moderate much before Friday, when throngs of motorists are expected to take to the highways for the Memorial Day weekend, Right said.
“I don’t think you’re going to see any major turnaround between now and the weekend, but nobody knows for sure,” he said. “At least theoretically (these prices) should last for a few days.”
Any relief — whenever it comes — is expected to be minimal. The Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the Energy Department, last month predicted that gas will remain near $3 a gallon most of the summer.
Despite the high prices, a national survey by AAA last week predicted that 38.3 million Americans will travel 50 miles or farther, an increase of 1.7 percent. And the most recent spike in gasoline is unlikely to change that much, Right said.
“I think many folks will alter their plans somewhat, but I don’t think you’re going to see any wholesale shift in the numbers that are going to travel this weekend,” he said.
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