Gas prices headed lower
The Energy Department and AAA predict a drop this year, but they don't account for variables like storms or wars.
For perhaps the first time since the fiscal cliff debates began, the government has come up with an item whose price won't increase in 2013: gasoline.
Thanks to high supply and weakened demand, the average price per gallon should fall to 5% to $3.44, according to the Energy Department. That's still well above the dreaded $3-a-gallon mark and the third highest average fuel price ever, but it's 19 cents lower than last year's record $3.63 average.
It's also an average savings of $205 per household in 2013, which theoretically could put $25 billion back into other areas of the economy -- or, you know, into Americans' savings. That's assuming the Middle East doesn't flare up again, the hurricane season doesn't yield another Superstorm Sandy and the nation's refineries stay open and keep running at capacity.
It also ignores the expiration of last year's payroll tax deduction, which increases the Social Security levy from 4% to 6% this year and will cost households making $40,000 to $50,000 an extra $600 in 2013, according to the Tax Policy Center. Also, the Energy Department's recent history with this kind of prognostication has been spotty at best. In 2011, it predicted average gas prices around $3 just before Libya's revolution halted oil production and drove the national average to $3.53. Last year's prediction was $3.45, which also fell more than a little bit outside the mark.
AAA is steering away from the government annual average and, instead, is focusing on upcoming fluctuations in fuel prices. While AAA's average U.S. gas price sits at $3.31 per gallon, the motorist organization predicts that price could go as high as $3.80 this spring before dropping to $3.20 in mid-summer. That would be the lowest average gas price Americans have paid since February 2011, but may be short-lived depending on what hurricane season brings.
Of course, those prices are also still highly contingent upon where drivers live. Right now, drivers in Utah have the lowest gas prices at an average $2.88 a gallon, while New Yorkers are still dealing with Sandy's aftermath as they pay $3.75. One region's year of cheap gas could be another area's fuel crisis.
More on Money Now
YOU LIBS CAN SAY WHAT YOU WANT BUT IT'S OBAMA AND LEFT WING LIBS AGENDA THAT IS
NOT ONLY RISING FUEL PRICES ALSO FOOD ENERGY ETC....LET THE FREE MARKET DECIDE
WHAT ENERGY PEOPLE WANT! GREEN ENERGY ISN'T WORKING IT ISN'T CHEAP AND WHY
SHOULD THE TAX PAYER [MIDDLE CLASS TAXES RAISED] AND POOR PAY FOR THESE RICH
LIBS TO GET THEIR LITTLE SOCIALIST UTOPIA ENERGY AT THE EXPENSE OF THE HARD
WORKING AMERICAN? F THEM! OPEN THE PIPELINE DRILLING AND CUT THE OVER DONE
REGULATIONS OBAMA AND HIS NUTJOB EPA HAS PUT ON CHEAP ENERGY! ALL ENERGY
HAS ISSUES LIKE TOXIC BATTERIES AND LIGHTBULBS! AMERICA WILL BE LIKE ALL THE OTHER GREEN COMPANIES HIGH GAS FOOD PRICES TO PUSH THEIR GREEN AGENDA!
NOTICE OBAMA DIDN'T HAVE ANY PRESS CONFERENCES WHILE HE WAS RUNNING? NOW
Gas should be at about $1.75 to $2.00 a gallon right now. The reason it isnt is because of way too many things to list. People claim it isnt political, but politicians are to blame for most of it.
They can and should write a law that takes oil futures off the market. Trading in futures is keeping the price inflated and making the rich political donors even richer.
Next, allow refineries to add capacity. The New Liberal hates the idea, but the economy is stuck right where it is until we start seeing gas prices where they belong. The EPA is killing this county and costing every person living here thousands of dollars a year. Why do we accept it? We shouldnt.
Now, here is the big one. Use the oil we have here. Drill it, refine it and sell it. If that doesnt kill the market profit grabbers, nothing will. It is hard to shore up an inflated price when there is more of a product than we can use. Import and use domestic. Imagine the price battle we'd see then. It would definately put free market back in oil. Remember how it used to be? It could be like that again. Imagine gas stations lowering their prices to compete with the other stations instead of raising their prices to keep up with other stations.
DATA PROVIDERS
Copyright © 2013 Microsoft. All rights reserved.
Quotes are real-time for NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX. See delay times for other exchanges.
Fundamental company data and historical chart data provided by Thomson Reuters (click for restrictions). Real-time quotes provided by BATS Exchange. Real-time index quotes and delayed quotes supplied by Interactive Data Real-Time Services. Fund summary, fund performance and dividend data provided by Morningstar Inc. Analyst recommendations provided by Zacks Investment Research. StockScouter data provided by Verus Analytics. IPO data provided by Hoover's Inc. Index membership data provided by SIX Financial Information.
Japanese stock price data provided by Nomura Research Institute Ltd.; quotes delayed 20 minutes. Canadian fund data provided by CANNEX Financial Exchanges Ltd.
RECENT POSTS
Tired of constantly dying batteries, she came up with a device that could revolutionize energy storage -- and won $50,000 from Intel.
- Detroit in hot water over proposal to sell art
- Sears spirals toward oblivion
- Why aren't heads rolling at the IRS?
- Do we pay attention to roads and bridges now?
- Yahoo may be going after Hulu
- Apple's first computer could fetch $450,000
- AT&T adds sneaky fee onto its wireless bills
- Soaring ER use adds more pain to health costs
- Netflix gets 'Arrested Development' stars cheap
MARKET UPDATE
[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks entered the weekend on a mixed note as the S&P 500 shed 0.1% while the Dow ended with a gain of 0.1%.
The major averages began the day on a lower note as nine of ten sectors saw losses of more than 0.5%.
The consumer staples sector was the lone exception as the group spent the entire day in positive territory thanks to the relative strength of Dow component Procter & Gamble (PG 81.89, +3.19). The second-largest staple stock advanced ... More
More Market News
TOP STOCKS
Try as the bears might, they couldn't break U.S. stocks. But investors still face frothy prices and considerable headwinds.
MSN MONEY'S
- Shared
- Commented
- Viewed
