Perfect storm brewing

Conditions are right for gasoline to surpass $3 a gallon.

If you thought gasoline prices were bad last summer, think again.

A wide array of market forces may well form the perfect storm, zapping consumers across the country with sky-high costs each time they fill up.

“It’s gonna be one hot summer at the pump,” said Jim Ostroff, an energy expert with Kiplinger Washington Editors in Washington, D.C.

Just how bad will it get? Ostroff thinks the old U.S. record — $3.057 per gallon, set during September 2005, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina — is “very likely” to fall.

“It could be $3.10, $3.25 a gallon, perhaps even $3.50,” he said. “It’s appropriate to note that records are made to be broken.”

South Bend Tribune