Gas to reach $4.50 by Memorial day

[CasterTroy]

Heard this crap today on the way to work. I love how they give you a snippet to scare the crap out of people....then you find out it's in Seattle

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$4.50 per gallon gas by Memorial Day


The price of gas goes up by a few pennies every time we fill up our vehicles' tanks, and a local fuel pricing analyst says we'll pay $4.50 a gallon for regular unleaded by Memorial Day.

Bob van der Valk , an analyst with 4 Refuel in Lynnwood, has been in the U.S. oil and gas industry 50 years. When he moved here from the Netherlands, gas prices in America were around $0.19 a gallon.

"By the way, people were complaining about that too," he says.

We complain about gas prices on the West Coast because it's more expensive than in other parts of the country. In my podcast, van der Valk explains the factors that make a simple "supply and demand" pricing a little more complex .

As of today, the lowest price for gas in Washington can be found in Ephrata, where a gallon costs $3.47. Silverdale has gas for $3.55, while Snohomish sells a gallon of regular unleaded for $3.57.

On the upper end, the most expensive gas in the state is at a Chevron in Blaine, where the price is $4.29. Burien has it for $4.05 and a couple spots in Seattle area at $3.99 per gallon.



According to GasBuddy.com this Shell station in Shoreline, at 177th and Aurora, has among the highest gas prices in the Seattle area. The national average is $3.64 per gallon, while the state average for a gallon of regular gas is $3.82. Linda Thomas photo.

Van der Valk says he doesn't "predict" how high gas prices will be when summer begins. Instead, he "forecasts" gas will be around $4.50 by the end of next month.

"The summer driving season always increases demand," he says. "No matter what we do, we get in our cars."

We could even pay $5 a gallon for gas in August when the hurricane season rolls in.

"It's going to be a bad one, that's what we hear anyway, and if it is we'll see $5," says van der Valk. "If not, things will start decreasing. The price will go down by the middle of September because that's when we start making winter gas."

Van der Valk says that's the way it goes every year, the prices peak in the summer and then slowly roll back.

"Instead of $5 it'll be $4 then $3.50 and I'm even predicting three bucks by the end of the year, and then guess what in March of next year we'll be cryin' again about prices going up," he says.

There are a couple of differences with gas prices this year. They started $1 higher in January 2011 than prices were in 2010. In January gasoline in Seattle averaged $3.27. Van der Valk says unlike 2008, prices aren't being driven by speculation. There are some actual events the oil and gas markets are dealing with, including Japan's natural and nuclear disasters and political uncertainty in Libya.

While gas prices are a bit of a "grin and bear it" reality, van der Valk does offer this tip for drivers when (and if) the weather gets warmer.

"If you fill up your car early in the morning when it's cold you'll get more bang for your buck," he says. Other tips include using cruise control on the interstates; that helps maintain a constant speed which will save gas. Also, stick to the speed limit. Every five miles per hour over 60 mph is like paying an additional