High US gas prices spark conflicting forecasts

High US gas prices spark conflicting forecasts

Houston, 3 June (Argus) — US gasoline prices show little sign of moderating leading into the summer driving season, with resurgent demand, tight supplies and stubbornly high crude prices feeding the recent run-up at the pump. But some forecasts predict markets could soon rebalance as consumers take steps to shield themselves from prices and refiners bring on incremental capacity.

High crude prices and shortages of key gasoline blendstocks have exacerbated the traditional run-up in US pump prices leading into the summer driving season this year. Average nationwide gasoline prices rose 40pc from the first week of January to the week ending 30 May, when they reached a new record-high of $4.73/USG, according to the US Energy Information Administration. That January-May rise marks the steepest increase over that period since 2009 and the second-highest increase over that stretch on record.

These rapidly increasing prices, combined with inflation elsewhere in the economy, have prodded politicians at the state and federal levels toward measures to tamp prices, including taps on strategic stocks, loosened rules around ethanol blending and holidays on state gasoline taxes. But most consumers are filling up their tanks as usual.

In a mid-May survey of 1000 US drivers, US consultancy KPMG found 51pc