And that would mean .... what?
Morse also said gasoline, rising rapidly in August and September due to refining issues and Hurricane Isaac, could start to decline.
"The gasoline market should ease substantially by the middle of winter," he said. Morse said he expects to see gas prices head back to $3.50 per gallon, from the current national average of $3.85 per gallon.Locally, just west of Boston, the price is generally $3.99/gallon, so maybe we'll see gasoline down to $3.75/gallon.
By the way, on another note, these "national average" prices are also misleading. I've talked about this before.
First, human nature is such that whether one is paying $3.50/gallon or $4.25/gallon, the typical driver will say they are buying "4-dollar gasoline." Daily and weekly fluctuations between $3.50 and $3.75 have little psychological impact; perhaps as one gets to $3.91 and higher, it might elicit an emotional comment.
Second, if the "national average" is not weighting prices for gasoline based on population density, the averages don't mean a whole lot. Folks on the northeast and west coasts are cynical when they hear the "average": they are paying much more than the average. Meanwhile, folks in the flyover states and the south are slightly more smug, noting they are paying less than the national average. But very few folks are paying the "average."
But the "average" price of gasoline dropping from $3.85 to $3.50 hardly seems worthy of an "October surprise" headline.