newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

The demand for gasoline in the U.S. is at its lowest point since April 1997, yet we’ll be paying $4 per gallon soon if the current price acceleration continues.

Confused? Angry? Interested in moving to Wyoming?

According to Businessweek, the average price of a gallon of gas in Wyoming is $2.90 right now. “That comes from the relatively cheap amount of crude entering the upper Midwest from Canada,” said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service.

And for today’s excuse about local increases, Kloza feels most of the rise has come from about $11 billion in speculative money from hedge funds and large money managers going into gasoline futures contracts since the start of 2012.

An Associated Press report in the Washington Post says the national average for a gallon of gas is now $3.53. Prices have risen 25 cents since New Year’s, and could hit a record $4.25 late in April, according to experts.

If the 25-cent jump continues over a year, it would cost the economy about $35 billion. The immediate problem is that gas prices always go up in March and April anyway. Average cost of a gallon of regular in 2007, before the recession, was $2.25.

The New York Times reports that in a closed door meeting, House Speaker John Boehner told his fellow Republicans to point out the rising gas prices to their constituents when they come back from their Presidents’ Day recess. According to Fox News, gas prices have gone up 83 percent while President Barack Obama has been in office.

CBS Philly reports that according to AAA Mid-Atlantic, the average price of a gallon of regular in New Jersey on Friday was $3.50, up 5 cents from last week. It’s the eleventh straight week that prices have gone up in New Jersey. A year ago at this time, motorists were paying $3.04 in the state.