GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — If you need gasoline, you will be paying more and soon.
According to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, “it’s going to get a lot worse.”
“The lack of (winter gasoline) discounts and combined with the big increase in oil and wholesale prices today, it’s going to push up Grand Rapids to anywhere from $4.19 to $4.39 a gallon,” he said.
De Haan said that trucks delivering gasoline after 6 p.m. on Friday are going to be carrying the more expensive gas. So, it’s just a matter of time before stations pass the higher prices along to customers.
With the United States losing the a huge source of oil from Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine along with the change over to summer gasoline, De Haan says we are going to be seeing record prices.
“The question is if and how high we go,” he said. “We certainly could see Grand Rapids eventually get up to $4.50. I still think it’s pretty improbably that we get to $5, but there have been some pretty lofty calls by big investment banks that they think we could hit $180 or $200 oil.”
De Haan’s advise to Americans: cut back on consumption.
“The quicker that they can cut back on consumption, the faster that we are out of the woods and the quicker we can see a stop to the increase in prices,” he said.
For everyone rushing to fill up before the increase, De Haan says this will make prices increase sooner. He recommends instead that drivers set aside more money for gas while we all ride out the higher prices.