Gas prices rose for the sixth consecutive day Monday, putting the national average at $1.842 a gallon. Its a figure thats 3 full cents higher than Fridays figures.
Gas Comparisons Over the Last Year
Despite the temporary jump in prices, gas is still selling for 39% of what it sold for last January and 55% less than this summer when gas prices reached record national highs of $4.114 a gallon on July 17. Only Alaska, Hawaii, California and Washington currently have gas price averages above the $2.00 mark.
Oil by the Barrel
In spite of gallon gas prices that are creeping back upward, the price of oil by the barrel has remained low. Currently the price of oil according to
OPEC is at $34 dollars a barrel, two dollars less than it sold for last Friday, and resolutions to various international disputes imply that the cost of an oil barrel may drop a bit more before it starts to go back up.
Still though, J
effrey Currie, a commodities analyst at Goldman Sachs, foresees the price of a barrel will hit $65 again before the year is over. To keep things in perspective, oil was selling at $147.27 a barrel in mid-July when prices had reached such an apex.
Future Gasoline Figures
The inevitable rise in oil prices will naturally force the
price of gasoline back up to a national average of more than $2.50 a gallon in the near future. Its a prediction thats further supported by OPECs eventual realization of their goal to cut current production of oil by 4.2 million barrels, taking it from 29.2 barrels a day down to 25 million barrels.
Obviously we cant tell you to buy your years share of gasoline now, its a pretty difficult thing to store en masse, but these figures should serve as ample notice that the days of cheap, cheap gas may be on their way out.
The face of gasoline is changing, and were set to start budgeting for the change now.
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