Gas prices in metro Detroit topping $5 a gallon in some places, expected to go higher
Gas prices on Thursday edged toward — and in some places surpassed — $5 a gallon for regular unleaded in metro Detroit, a threshold that for some means conscious efforts and strategies to cut back.
Veronica Daffin made an emergency stop for gas at the Sunoco off Woodward Avenue in Pleasant Ridge because, she said, she was running on fumes. Instead of filling up, she stopped the pump at $50, paying $5.29 a gallon for mid-grade gas.
"Hopefully, I might find it cheaper somewhere else," the 58-year-old Eastpointe resident added, as she pulled the nozzle out of her Mercedes GLC 300. "I would love to put the premium in, but right now I can't afford it."
The average price per gallon Thursday for regular unleaded in Michigan jumped to $4.80, a dime more than it was Wednesday, nearly a quarter more than a week ago, and nearly three quarters more than the same day last month, according to AAA.
Mid, premium, and diesel were all over $5, at $5.04, $5.39, $5.36, respectively.
On Memorial Day, the traditional start of the summer vacation season, AAA asked in a headline if "this is the calm before the storm?" for pump prices.
A dip in gasoline demand, AAA said, provided drivers with some stability at the pump, as the national average for a gallon rose less than three cents over the past week to reach $4.62.
But this respite, AAA said, "could be brief."
And indeed it was.
Thursday, AAA noted that the national average for a gallon of regular increased by nine cents to $4.71. Total domestic gasoline stocks decreased while gasoline demand grew, leading to rising pump prices.
This was coupled with volatile crude oil prices.
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Crude prices increased, AAA said, as the European Union works to implement a 90% ban on Russian oil imports by year-end and increased demand expectations from the market after China lifted COVID-19 restrictions in Shanghai.
West Texas Intermediate was selling Wednesday at $115.26 a barrel.
Eight states already are at an average of $5 or more per gallon, according to AAA data, including nearby Illinois, and California, Hawaii, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Arizona.
Michigan neighbor's Ohio was close, at $4.90.
California's average gas prices were the highest at $6.21.
Nationally, gas prices could reach $5 a gallon on average by mid-June, said Patrick De Haan, an analyst for GasBuddy, which tracks fuel costs. By August, a JPMorgan analyst predicted it could reach $6.20.
Daffin said she saved a few cents a gallon by paying with cash.
Still, she said, at $5.29 she was paying far too much. Even the regular unleaded price, she pointed out, before the cash discount, was $4.99, more than she'd seen in a long time — or perhaps ever.
"I got nine gallons for $50, and this year, for vacations, I'm doing more local stuff," Daffin said, who was on her way to take her niece to celebrate her 50th birthday. "This is absolutely ridiculous!"
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: As gas prices rise daily, metro Detroit drivers start pinching pennies
