April 13--Fire up the ol' family station wagon -- it's gonna be a great summer to be a Griswold.
That's the verdict of government economists who are forecasting the cheapest vacation-season gas prices in a dozen years.
Road-trippers will be able to take advantage of regular gas costing a U.S. average of $2.04 per gallon this summer, according to an U.S. Energy Information Administration estimate issued Wednesday. That's 59 cents a gallon less than last summer and the lowest price since 2004.
Continuing low prices for crude oil are behind the cheap gas at the pump, which will save the average U.S. household about $350 this year, the Energy Information Administration predicts.
While Chicago gas prices are typically above the national average -- as they were Wednesday, when the average gallon in Chicago cost $2.34, as opposed to the $2.09 national average -- Chicagoans should also benefit, according to GasBuddy.com analyst Patrick DeHaan.
Midwest gas prices in February hit their lowest level since 2004, according to DeHaan, who cautioned that if problems similar to last year's several-day stoppage at BP's Whiting refinery are repeated this year, they could again cause price spikes of around 80 cents per gallon.
"As long as the refineries keep running, it should be a relatively painless summer," he said, adding that the long lines expected at airports this summer thanks to TSA staffing reductions will encourage more motorists to take advantage of the cheap gas to drive further and more often.
"There will be a lot of folks taking road trips," he said, predicting that the record gas usage level of around 10 million barrels a day set in 2007 could be exceeded this summer.
The further afield Chicagoans drive, the wider the variation in prices they'll pay at the pump. The Energy Information Administration forecasts average summer prices to range from a low of $1.80 per gallon on the Gulf Coast to $2.51 per gallon on the West Coast.
kjanssen@tribpub.com
