JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — (The video above is from a previous report)
Say it ain't so! Paying more at the pump may continue well into the new year, according to the experts at GasBuddy.
In fact, GasBuddy predicts that 2022 may bring even more increases to gas prices, straining motorists’ wallets even more than the steep hikes of 2021.
The national average price of gasoline is forecast to climb early in the year, peaking as high as $4.13 per gallon in June.
Experts say this is largely due to pandemic recovery and rising demand before relief, or additional oil supply, arrives later in 2022.
But, it may not all be bad news.
“While Americans are likely to see higher prices in 2022, it’s a sign that the economy continues to recover from Covid-19,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “There remains higher uncertainty than in a non-Covid year, but all signs point to gas prices remaining elevated next year until the high prices attract additional oil supply, which will help prices cool off as we end 2022.”
On a yearly basis, a total of $484.4 billion will be spent on gasoline in the United States, up $76 billion from the $408.4 billion spent in 2021, according to GasBuddy's 2022 Fuel Price Outlook.
The increase in total gasoline spend comes due to oil production slowly rising against a sharp increase in global demand as vaccines have allowed some measure of life to return, leading to an imbalance and pushing oil prices higher.
GasBuddy anticipates that oil producers will slowly bring additional production online as 2022 progresses, easing gasoline prices even further toward the end of the year.