Gas prices hit 4-month high: will it get worse?

foxbusiness.com:

The Bear Traps Report founder Larry McDonald reacts to January’s PCE report and its impact on the Federal Reserve’s highly monitored rate decision. 

Gas prices reached a four-month high as the warmer weather gets drivers back on the road. 

Part of the problem is that demand is flooding back at a time when refineries are having unprecedented challenges, according to energy analyst and FOX Business contributor Phil Flynn. 

Drivers are also in the midst of switching over from the wintertime gasoline blends to the summertime blends, which are more expensive to blend and add 10 to 15 cents a gallon to prices, Flynn told FOX Business. This year it could go even higher. 

GAS PRICES MARCH UPWARD AS SPRING LOOMS AND DEMAND GROWS: AAA

In February, energy prices jumped for the first time in months, only adding further pressure on households. Prices rose 2.3% during the month, including a 3.8% jump in gasoline.

As of Tuesday, the national average price for regular gasoline is sitting at $3.39 per gallon, according to the latest data from AAA. A month ago, prices were sitting at $3.19. However, prices are still below the level they sat at a year ago, which was about $3.47, according to AAA.

AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said this is the seasonal upswing, and that prices in summer usually peak around June and July before falling. 

However, Flynn warned people are still feeling the reverberations from various refinery outages, namely the extended shut-down of the Whiting BP refinery in Indiana and the U.S. Gulf Coast refinery in Texas, hindering supply. Flynn also noted the flaring incident at the Wood River refinery in Roxana, Illinois, further tightened supply.

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