AAA Report: No More Gas Below $3

Image courtesy of Clotee Pridgen Allochuku

CHARLOTTE – You may never see gas prices go below $3, according to a new report by the American Automobile Association.

Director of communications for AAA Carolinas, Angela Daley, says that, with a few exceptions like South Carolina, this looks like the future of gas prices in America.

“I think it’s reasonable for some parts of the country to drop below $3 a gallon, but for the most part, what we’re seeing is that range between $3 and $4 a gallon, with $3.50 being about normal,” Daley says.

Oil prices are only expected to go up, as Daley says prices typically rise in the second half of the summer.

“It’s due to demand, but it’s also due to the fact that unrest in Egypt is causing concerns over the distribution of oil through the Suez Canal,” Daley says.

Daley says that conflict in other countries affects our oil prices because the oil market is global and interconnected.

“I think the more that we can produce domestically, we’ll be able to keep the volatility from being as dramatic as we have seen over the past few years,” Daley says. “But it’s really all about supply and demand and remembering that we’re working in a global market, so as much as we’re producing here, much of that oil is still being exported elsewhere.”

Daley says rising gas prices are also a result of both oil production and oil demand from growing economies.

“For the most part, we’re seeing that countries, like China, India, Brazil, are all increasing their demand,” Daley says. “So as we increase our supply here and globally, the demand is also going up.”

Daley says oil prices in North Carolina especially are expected to rise throughout the summer, as the Carolinas get 90 percent of their oil from the Gulf and hurricane season is just getting started.

AAA Report: No More Gas Below $3

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