NEW YORK — Gas prices roared above $3.75 a gallon Wednesday, while oil prices fell after an Energy Department report gave a mixed picture of the nation’s petroleum reserves.
At the pump, the average national price of a gallon of regular gas rose 2.6 cents overnight to a record $3.758 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices are 67 cents higher than a year ago and are expected to keep rising at least until Memorial Day weekend.
The Energy Department has forecast that prices will peak next month at a monthly average of $3.73. But that means prices may rise well above that level at times; many analysts expect prices to reach $4 a gallon on a national basis in coming weeks.
Gas prices typically peak around Memorial Day, then decline through the summer. But some analysts are beginning to question whether that will happen this summer, noting that oil prices have doubled over the past year and show little sign of slowing their advance.
High fuel prices have cut demand for gasoline and oil, but that has had little impact on prices.
“We wonder if the gasoline market in the United States has finally reached . . . the point at which consumers alter their purchasing behavior based on the dollar rise in gasoline at the pump,” said Stephen Schork, an analyst and trader in Villanova, Pa.
