Average gasoline price may hit $3 a gallon: Govt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The price U.S. drivers will pay for
regular unleaded gasoline could hit a national average of $3 a
gallon this year, the government’s top energy forecasting
agency said on Wednesday.

“Some stations have already posted prices for regular
gasoline that exceed $3 per gallon and it is certainly possible
that average retail prices across the country could reach that
level sometime this year,” the Energy Information
Administration said in its weekly review of the oil market.

The EIA reported on Monday that the U.S. average price for
gasoline soared 10 cents over the last week to $2.78 a gallon.

The agency said U.S. gasoline production should increase as
oil refineries undergoing maintenance return to full operations
over the next several weeks. That should slow the rise in pump
prices and may actually cause them to decline.

Pump prices have shot up 29 cents over the last three
weeks.

“While (gasoline) demand will generally increase as we move
closer to summer, increased domestic production, in addition to
the expected continuation of significant volumes of gasoline
imports, should be enough to cause prices to begin to fall
again, albeit not nearly as much as they have increased,” the
EIA said.