The price of gasoline has gone up again in New Jersey, by an average of 9 cents a gallon just within the past week. When will it all end, and what is ahead for your wallet?

Gas Pump
Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images
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Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com, said the Garden State's average price right now is $2.49 per gallon, with regular increasing about 32 cents per gallon since mid-April. The national average stands a bit higher, at around $2.62.

"We are seeing a lot of increases here across the majority of the U.S.," DeHaan said, "as a recent increase in crude oil prices continues to weigh on retail gasoline prices, which are following the price of crude oil."

DeHaan said crude prices in world markets have touched about $59 per barrel, close to their highest price this year and a driving force for the recent increases.

"We would have to go back to early December to see a time when crude oil prices were so high," he said. "That's really the reason for much of the increase that we are witnessing at the gas pump."

Prices really started to accelerate around April 15, when New Jersey's average was only about $2.17 a gallon.

"Since Tax Day, not only have you maybe have gotten a refund from the government, (but) that refund is going right to the pump -- a big increase of about 32 cents a gallon here over the last few weeks," DeHaan said.

When will enough be enough?

"Much of it is really going to rely on the price of crude oil increases coming to a close," DeHaan said, "and whether or not the oil prices will break through that $60 barrier."

He said crude may see a pretty big correction in the short term, and mercifully, that would mean New Jersey has already seen this season's high at the pump.

"I think that over the next few weeks, by the end of May, we should be in a downward trajectory," DeHaan said. "That would be great timing for the Memorial Day weekend and those who are hitting the road. If you're an optimist, you look at the price of gasoline last year when it averaged $3.54, and you say, 'Hey, at least prices are about $1.05 lower per gallon today than they were a year ago.'"

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New Jersey Gas Prices provided by GasBuddy.com

 

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