Costco members fill up with discounted gasoline. U.S. oil output rose 14 percent to 6.5 million barrels per day in 2012, a record increase, but you’d never know it from the price at the pump. The national average price of gasoline is $3.69 per gallon and it is forecast to creep higher and could approach $4 by May.NEW YORK – The U.S. is increasing its oil production faster than ever and U.S. drivers are guzzling less gas. But you’d never know it from the price at the pump.
The national average price of gasoline is $3.69 per gallon and it is forecast to creep higher and could approach $4 by May. For the year, prices are forecast to average $3.55 per gallon, slightly lower than last year’s record average of $3.63.
“I just don’t get it,” says Steve Laffoon, 61, a part-time mental health worker, who recently paid $3.59 per gallon to fill up in St. Louis.
U.S. oil output rose 14 percent to 6.5 million barrels per day last year – a record increase – and the nation is forecast to overtake Saudi Arabia by 2020 as the world’s largest crude oil producer. At the same time, U.S. gasoline demand has fallen to 8.7 million barrels a day, its lowest level since 2001, as people switch to more fuel efficient cars.
So is the high price of gasoline a signal that markets aren’t working properly?