Gas prices continue to tick up; expect $4 a gallon by May

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By Fran Jeffries

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Brace yourself for more pain at the gas pump. Spring could easily bring $4 a gallon, analysts say.

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Chuck Burton, AP Yuri Godin, of Charlotte, N.C., pumps gas at a Costco in Matthews, N.C.

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"Some areas will pay even more," said Jessica Brady, AAA spokeswoman. Average gas prices in metro Atlanta ticked up 1.7 cents in the past week to $3.51 a gallon. Those average prices will continue to rise.

"February's pump prices aren't looking any better than January," said Brady, who said U.S. refineries are to blame. "As we get closer to March, more and more refineries will start to shut down for annual maintenance and to swap fuel blends." That alone will cause gas prices to spike, she said.

Brady explains that multiple refineries shut down in February in the Northeast, Texas and Louisiana. Typically, refineries go into maintenance mode at the start of March to begin the switch in production from the winter fuel blend to the more expensive summer blend. As more refineries go off line in March, the average price of gas will continue to rise, she told the AJC.

Motorists paid more for a gallon of gas this past January than ever before, Brady notes. January's monthly average was $3.37, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Report -- 28 cents more than January 2011 and 66 cents more than in 2010 when the monthly average was $2.71. The national average is expected to surpass $3.50 a gallon this week, while Florida's average already hit $3.60.

The price of gasoline continues to rise even as oil prices trade below $100 a barrel for the fourth consecutive week and stockpiles increase, Brady notes. The price of a barrel of oil fell last week after the Energy Department reported U.S. stockpiles rose to a 13-week high of 339 million barrels at the same time reports showed U.S. oil consumption fell to 17.7 million barrels a day. The numbers reflect the lowest demand for the U.S. since May 1999. A barrel of oil settled Friday at $97.84 on the New York Mercantile Exchange -- $1.72 less than the week prior.

Tom Kloza,an analyst with the Oil Price Information Service, said he expects average prices to peak at $4.05, although he and other industry experts say prices could be sharply higher in some markets.

GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan said gas prices will continue their upward trend as we move closer to spring and EPA-mandated cleaner-burning gasoline. "Gasoline prices tend to start moving significantly higher towards the end of February and into mid-March, so motorists should be preparing for higher prices," DeHaan said.

Here's a link to cheap gas in metro Atlanta.