It would be nice to start the new year with great news about the future of gas prices, but unfortunately, that is not happening at the beginning of 2023. 

GasBuddy is a company that tracks and monitors gas prices in the US, they are basically the authority on the matter, and their thought is that gas prices could rise to nearly $7 in some states this year. 

Why? Thank refinery disruptions due to cold weather here in the States, along with increased energy demand in China as their economy opens up more of their economy following the lifting of their draconian covid measures. 

Look for the national average for a gallon of gas to hit $4 in most major cities by May. The unlucky cities that could be staring down the barrel of $7 per gallon fuel prices are, unshockingly, San Francisco and Los Angeles. 

Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy added this insight on a recent podcast. 

“2023 is not going to be a cakewalk for motorists. It could be expensive. Basically, curveballs are coming from every direction. 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.”

Americans have been getting used to a break at the pump, with gas prices having leveled off in the past few months. But they are going back up. And according to some, China has a role in it. 

“China’s reopening is a wildcard to watch in coming days/weeks. The window may be closing on those ultra-low prices we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks. As China has reopened, oil prices have rebounded.”

2022 was bad. Let’s hope this year isn’t worse. 

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