Despite the average price of gasoline in the United States still holding just below $3 a gallon, higher fuel expenses shouldn’t be enough to cancel the family driving vacation this summer, the government’s top energy forecasting agency said Wednesday.
The average price for regular unleaded gasoline jumped 3.8 cents last week to $2.95 a gallon, after declining during the prior week for the first time in a month and a half.
Spot gasoline prices, which are close to wholesale prices, peaked at a level last week that indicated pump costs would keep rising, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.
“However, a sharp decline in spot prices so far this week in various parts of the country may mean that the U.S. average retail price of regular gasoline may remain below $3 per gallon, absent further increases in spot prices,” the Energy Department’s analytical arm said in its weekly review of the oil market.
Even though summer gasoline prices are forecast to be an average 34 cents higher than last year, motor fuel costs won’t cut that much into the family vacation budget, the EIA said.
At an estimated average summer price of $2.71 a gallon, the added gasoline costs for a 500-mile round trip vacation in a vehicle that gets 20 miles per gallon would be just $8.50, the agency said.
Even if gasoline soars 75 cents higher than last year to a record $3.12 a gallon and vehicles only get 15 miles per gallon, the fuel bill would be just $25 more for a 500-mile round trip.
The EIA pointed out this would “likely be less than lunch for a family of four at a moderately priced restaurant.”