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BOISE — As summer approaches, gas prices are rising along with temperatures.
AAA Idaho spokesman Dave Carlson says a combination of Wall Street speculation and a weak U.S. dollar have helped drive oil and gas prices up in recent weeks.
The average cost of a gallon of gasoline in Idaho settled at $2.46 Wednesday, up nearly $1 from this year's winter low.
Just a month ago, AAA analysts had forecast a summer peak of about $2.50, Carlson said. Given the precipitous rise in gas prices of late, however, the organization now forecasts prices to level off in the next few weeks at about $2.70.
"We missed the mark partly because we missed the signals," Carlson said. "An interesting level of circumstances, involving more than just supply and demand, are going on right now that are pushing gas prices beyond what we thought they would be."
Carlson, however, does not believe the rapid price increases in recent weeks are sustainable.
"The bottom line is, and we could be wrong, but we think gasoline prices should level off in the next couple weeks and that they've perhaps even already reached the high that they're going to get for the summer," Carlson said.
"To our point, we're seeing a little bit of hesitation in the market today – oil dropped $2 a barrel, inventories are up, and the most recent report says demand is down, a lot."
