ORLANDO, Fla. – Despite record-high gas prices, millions of people are still expected to hit the road this Memorial Day weekend.
Experts say low supply and high demand have been driving the price of gas higher, and with summer approaching, the cost to fill up is only going to get more expensive.
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GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan joined anchor Justin Warmoth on “The Weekly” to break down his summer forecast and how high prices could get.
“Keep in mind that the conditions this summer are the most favorable since 2019 — the economy is basically reopened,” De Haan said. “Even in light of high gas prices, 58 percent of Americans said they’re hitting the road this summer. That’s up from last year and a sign of resilience against these prices.”
Analysts at JPMorgan said last week gas price averages could jump to $6 per gallon nationwide by August, but De Haan says he doesn’t see prices reaching those levels.
“I would put a little bit of cold water on that,” De Haan said. “I think there would have to be a lot of stars to align to get us to that $6 mark. Demand would have to be more resilient in the face of prices that they predict could go up over another $1.50 per gallon. I just don’t see quite all of that happening.”
De Haan says another factor that could play into prices spiking — potentially to $5 per gallon — is whether one of the nation’s refineries is impacted by a hurricane this season.
“I think all it would take is a smaller refinery issue to get us to the $5 per gallon mark,” De Haan said. “A smaller hurricane could get us there. There are a lot of things that could get us to $5, there aren’t a lot of things that could get us to $6.”
He adds this is a global issue and there is no quick fix. De Haan said prices falling will likely come down to two factors.
“Either the economy slows down significantly, and we see that dirty ‘r’ word ‘recession’ because that will greatly reduce demand most likely or there’s some resolution between Russia and Ukraine,” he said.
Watch the full interview in the video player above.