Gas closes in on $4 per gallon

Gas prices in Delaware and beyond appear to be headed to the $4.00 per gallon mark, but in what could be the thinnest of silver linings, local transportation officials don’t expect prices to stay there for long.

The average price of regular grade gasoline in Delaware is $3.79, 10 cents more than a week ago and three cents less than the national average. Nationally, prices are up 27 cents from a month ago and 96 cents from a year ago. Gas prices are approaching the all-time high of $4.11 a gallon set in July 2008.

Jana Tidwell, Public Affairs Specialist for AAA Mid-Atlantic, says it’s not a given we’ll reach that mark, at least not anytime soon.

“While gas prices continue to inch ever-closer to the $4.00 per gallon mark, however, under current national and global economic conditions we don’t think that threshold (or beyond) could be sustained for long, if at all,” Tidwell said. “Should prices continue their upward tick, demand would undoubtedly be affected, theoretically reversing the price of crude oil and gasoline.”

With the summer season approaching Tidwell says motorists and analysts will continue to eyeball the direction of crude oil markets and gas prices looking for any signs of an about face.

One of those signs appears to be positive as the price of crude oil dropped this past week after hitting a two-and-a-half year high.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects gas prices will peak at $3.91 this summer.