Wisconsin gas prices to remain stable through end of summer, barring major disruptions

Low gas prices are expected to stay relatively stable for Wisconsin drivers looking to squeeze in a vacation before the end of the summer.

The average price of regular gas on Wednesday was $2.25 for Wisconsin and $2.28 for the United States, according to data from the AAA Gas Prices website.

While prices may rise 10 cents by August, the increase isn't likely to be anything out of the ordinary.

"Compared to other years, we've been a little more stable," AAA spokesman Nick Jarmusz said. The price of gas "has been going up and down a lot, but it's not going up and down by very much when it does."

Gas prices this year have shifted between $2.25 and $2.50, Jarmusz said, whereas other years had variations of up to a dollar between minimums and maximums. 

Patrick DeHaan, the senior petroleum analyst at Gas Buddy, said "normal gyrations" in the oil market are partly responsible for the slight changes in this summer's pump prices.

“Oil prices are constantly on the move, up, down,” DeHaan said.

OPEC's efforts to cut down on its oil production can also contribute to rising prices, he said. The bloc of oil-producing nations is working to level oil supply with demand, after years of high production.

But increased U.S. oil production with the development of fracking is helping to suppress major jumps in U.S. gas prices as that foreign oil output decreases, DeHaan said. Overall, the changes are not pushing gas prices out of the $2 range.

Major disruptions in the oil refinery industry could more significantly impact prices at the pump, such as if a hurricane hit the Gulf Coast, where half of the country's oil refinery capacity is located, DeHaan said.

Such disruptions are rare, he said, but if they did happen, the majority of the U.S. does not have an emergency stockpile of gas, due to limited shelf life.