Photo: Getty Images
The highest gasoline prices are forecast to be seen in June, with an estimated peak of up to $4.19 per gallon as a national average.
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - GasBuddy’s annual fuel price forecast estimates the per-gallon price for gasoline will drop by nearly 50 cents next year.
The national average is projected to be $3.49, according to the 2023 Fuel Outlook released Wednesday.
To put that figure in perspective with South Carolina, as of Monday, when the national average stood at $3.05 per gallon, South Carolina’s average price per gallon was $2.72, with the lowest price in the state at $2.38.
The lowest price for gasoline on Monday in the Lowcountry was $2.57 per gallon, 48 cents below the national average.
“2023 is not going to be a cakewalk for motorists. It could be expensive,” Head Petroleum Analyst Patrick De Haan said. “The national average could breach $4 per gallon as early as May – and that’s something that could last through much of the summer driving season. Basically, curveballs are coming from every direction.”
Continuing improvement in refinery capacity will help alleviate gasoline and diesel prices, though high levels of uncertainty remain amidst Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine and continuing economic concerns, the report states.
The report forecasts a cooling in the average price of gas early in the year followed by a rise in late winter, bringing the national average to $4 per gallon in time for summer. But barring unexpected challenges, prices in 2023 should return to normal seasonal fluctuations, rising in the spring and dropping after Labor Day into the fall.
De Haan said extreme amounts of volatility remain possible.
“I don’t think we’ve ever seen such an amount of volatility as we saw this year, and that will be a trend that likely continues to lead to wider uncertainty over fuel prices going into 2023,” he said.
The highest gasoline prices are forecast to be seen in June, with an estimated peak of up to $4.19 per gallon as a national average.
Americans will spend an estimated $470.8 billion on gasoline in 2023, down $55 billion from 2022. The estimated yearly household spend on gasoline will also fall $277 to $2,471.
Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.