Gasoline prices predicted to fall in 2013

Hamburger, health care and taxes are all set to take a bigger bite out of the family budget this year—but at least gasoline should cost you less in 2013 than it did last year. Drivers’ annual gas expenditures are expected to drop for the first time in four years. Forecasters say ample oil supplies and weak U.S. demand will keep a lid on prices. The lows will be lower and the highs won’t be so high compared with a year ago. The average price of a gallon of gasoline nationwide will fall 5% to $3.44, according to the U.S. Energy Department. “Everything is lining up to lead to softer prices this year,” says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. That would still be the third-highest average price ever. But a discount of 19 cents per gallon from 2012 would save the typical household an estimated $205 this year and free up $25 billion that could go instead to restaurants, malls or movie theaters—the kind of consumer spending that accounts for 70% of American economic activity. The Associated Press has the full story here.