Former President of Shell Oil Believes That Gas Could Hit $5/Gallon in 2012

You've probably been noticing that the cost of filling up your car has been steadily increasing over the past couple of years.

You're not imagining things - at the end of 2008, the average cost of a gallon of gasoline in the United States was $1.616. Two years later, and the cost of a gallon of gas has risen to over $3.

Is the rising price of gasoline going to moderate anytime soon? According to John Hofmeister, former president of Shell Oil, not likely.

According to CNN.com, Hofmeister predicted in a recent interview that gasoline prices would continue to spike as global demand increases.

How high might the price of a gallon of gasoline rise? According to Hofmeister, you could be paying as much as $5 a gallon for gasoline by 2012.

You probably remember the summer of 2008 when gasoline prices went absolutely wild in the country. According to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report, the national average gas price topped out at $4.114 in the summer of 2008 before plummeting in the fall.

To save you from busting out your calculators, this means that Hofmeister is saying that gas prices could be more than 20% above the obscene levels that were seen during the summer of 2008. That should be sobering news for any motorist.

Watch out - after a brief respite from high gas prices a few years ago, it now appears pretty likely that US households are about to be destroyed at the gas pumps once again.

Source: CNN.com - Ex-Shell President Sees $5 Gas in 2012

Filed under: The Economic Meltdown