$4 Gas Expected This Spring

Energy Department predicts gas prices to peak soon

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 12, 2008 4:40 AM CDT

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$4 Gas Expected This Spring — David Montgomery, of Fort Worth, Texas, unloads fuel at a gas station, Monday, March 10, 2008, in Dallas. Gasoline prices were poised Monday to set a new record at the pump, having surged to within half a cent of their record high of $3.227 a gallon. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) (Associated Press)

Skyrocketing gas prices could hit $4 a gallon as early as this spring, predict government analysts. A new Energy Department report estimates prices will peak at close to $3.50 in most of the nation in May and June, but the $4 barrier could be broken in some regions, and even across the country for a short period as demand peaks, reports USA Today.

The record-breaking prices are expected to hit the economy hard and raise recession fears. Motorists are already cutting back on their driving in the face of soaring prices. The government expects prices to ease off later in the year, but most experts agree that the low gas prices seen earlier this decade won't ever come back. (More oil prices stories.)

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