
The fuel saving platform GasBuddy is projecting that a $4 per gallon national average is a very realistic possibility in 2022.
Their predictions for a $4 per gallon national average in the spring are based on pandemic recovery and the rising demand before an additional oil supply comes in later in 2022.
The average price of gas will increase early in 2022, peaking at $4.13 per gallon in June, according to their projections. Prices will begin to fall afterwards, dropping to under $3 per gallon by the holiday season.
"The higher prices go, the stronger the economy is," Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a statement. "No one would love to see $4 per gallon gasoline, but we’ll only get there on the back of a very strong economy, so it’s not necessarily bad news."
Major cities across the United States will see the biggest changes in gas prices, as cities in California like San Francisco and Sacramento are likely to have gas prices hit over $5 per gallon.
The current national average is $3.283 per gallon of regular gas, according to AAA, with a high average of $4.655 in California and a low average of $2.872 in Texas and Oklahoma.
The only states with an average price per gallon of regular gas over $4 are California and Hawaii, as of Dec. 29. There are also 12 states with the average price per gallon of regular gas at less than $3 -- Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.
The only time the national average for gas was over $4 per gallon was back in June and July of 2008, when the averages were $4.105 and $4.114. Prices then dropped to $3.883 in August and continued to fall, all the way down to an average of $1.745 in December of 2008.