Energy Analyst: $2.50 A Gallon Gas This Summer 'Very Possible'
BOSTON (CBS) – Driving may be easier on the wallet this summer, according to one energy analyst.
John Kilduff, a founding partner at Again Capital in New York, said we could be in for a big drop in gas prices.
"There's a lot of oil waiting to hit this market, from the United States, where our production keeps rising, and even Iran and Iraq for that matter, where we're seeing productions soar," he told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Friday.
"It could be a cheap summer."
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Crude oil prices were at $101 a barrel in New York Friday, but Kilduff said that could fall to $75 a barrel or lower, which could bring gasoline prices down significantly.
"If we got down to $75 on crude oil, you would see a U.S. national average of say, $2.50 a gallon. I think it's very possible. It would be such a boon to our economy it would be remarkable," he told WBZ.
"Nothing makes consumer confidence soar (more) than cheap pump prices."
However, Kilduff said this all hinges on factors we cannot control , such as the uncertainty in places like as Nigeria, Libya and Ukraine.
That could drive prices higher in the near term, but Kilduff said it's only a matter of time before those risks are resolved.
"The hopeful analysis is this – that the U.S. Gulf Coast inventories, storage centers are going to get full, so full that we're going to have to reduce our oil imports, because there's going to be no place to put them."
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