Gas Prices May Start To Decline Soon
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Labor Day weekend is not only seeing high numbers of motorists but also high prices at the pump. Gas prices have hovered near record levels all summer but they may soon start to decline. Tim Williams has more.
With the summer travel season tapering off, you might expect to see gas prices doing the same. Unfortunately, not yet.
"This is a record high for this time of year. Typically, we start to see gas prices decline come late August into Labor Day, but this year has been anything but typical," said Christine Delise, AAA Mid-Atlantic.
AAA Mid-Atlantic reports gas prices are 29 cents higher than last Labor Day. While they were already on a steady climb, the most current culprit is Isaac.
"Now that Hurricane Isaac has shut down refinery capability in the Gulf Coast region, we do anticipate prices to continue creeping up through the Labor Day weekend," Delise said.
Currently, there are no reports of major damage to oil rigs in the gulf and production may resume rather quickly. Also driving down prices, the decline in travel. The busy driving season ends this month, which triggers a lower demand for gas.
"And also, refineries now can stop producing the more costly summer-blended formulas as of September 15. So come fall, we anticipate prices to start to decline. However, we always have to keep in mind we're still in hurricane season until November 30," Delise said.
And nature doesn't seem to care about prices.
The current average is $3.82 for a gallon of regular, up about eight cents from last week and nearly 30 cents from a month ago. This time last year, you were paying $3.63 a gallon.
