After a U-S airstrike in Baghdad Friday, oil prices and futures have seen a 4-percent increase so far. Analysts at GasBuddy.com say we should see gas prices start to rise at the pump over the next week or two at least $.05 to $.10 a gallon. But GasBuddy Head of Petroleum Analysis Patrick DeHaan says that all could change.
“Will Iran retaliate? Will they go after oil infrastructure? Will they go after the U-S? Will they shut down the Strait of Hormuz? There are endless amounts of possibilities that they could disrupt oil prices and cause more of an impact,” says DeHaan.
DeHaan predicts we shouldn’t see a major spike in oil prices overnight, but the situation is very fluid. However, if the situation worsens there are fears we could see prices hit the $3 a gallon mark.
“Oh we certainly could, I think the only good news is being in Louisiana you have some of the nation’s lowest gas prices, so I still think that average gas prices should not get close to three dollars in Louisiana,” says DeHaan.
According to DeHaan gas prices should be somewhat insulated in the states, seeing as the United States is producing 7.5 million more barrels of oil every day than we were a decade ago.
“And that should limit how high oil prices should go, keep in mind we really don’t know if Iran will retaliate and what that looks like, and that’s the wildcard here,” says DeHaan. But he does expect Iran to counter.
The average gas price per gallon in Louisiana this morning is $2.31
