Gas prices forecast to peak at $3

The pinch at the gas pump could rise to $3 a gallon this summer, but experts say most prices will stay south of that.

"I don't anticipate it's going to go over $3 (a gallon)," said Albert Danielsen, director of the Bonbright Utilities Center, a University of Georgia think tank.

"Now, my expectation is that the oil prices are not going to change much for the next year or so," Danielsen said. "Not much is really happening that would change oil prices very dramatically."

The average price for gasoline in Georgia was $2.84 a gallon the first week of May, about 5 cents more than the previous week, according to AAA Auto Club South.

It's likely those prices will remain somewhat constant for Memorial Day, said Jessica Brady, an AAA Auto Club South public relations manager.

Still, $2.84 is about 77 cents more than last year.

"Looking into the summer, I expect to see gasoline prices look like a roller coaster in the next few months," Brady said.

Gasoline likely will peak about $3 a gallon before dropping off, she added.

With a pent-up demand for travel, AAA Auto Club South is expecting more drivers on the highways this Memorial Day and the following summer than in the previous two years. And that demand could increase gas prices somewhat, Brady said.

"What we were seeing last year was people not traveling because of where the economy was," she said. "Really, no one traveled the last couple of years."

Gasoline supplies likely w

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