Now that gasoline prices in the United States have set a record, theres only one way for them to go this spring – up, according to the federal government.
Retail gasoline prices rose to their highest level on record Tuesday, spelling pain at the pumps for the nations 200 million motorists, the American Automobile Association said. It is the largest motor and travel group in the United States, with about 47 million members.
The average price for regular gasoline struck $1.738 per gallon, up a tenth of a percent from the record hit in late summer 2003, according to the motorist groups survey of more than 60,000 stations.
The government expects prices to average a record $1.83 per gallon in April and May, during the run-up to the summer driving seasons, when Americans typically take to the roads.
Oil producer group OPEC, which controls roughly half of the worlds exported crude, is also mulling a new reduction in supplies starting April 1, adding to a series of cuts that recently brought oil prices to a high of nearly $40 a barrel.
