Michigan's gas prices among top in U.S.

Christina Rogers / The Detroit News

Michigan is topping the chart of yet another economic gloom indicator: high gas prices.

The Great Lakes State led the country Monday in high gas prices, beating out California and Hawaii at a statewide average of $2.93 a gallon for unleaded.

While its rank has slipped since then -- even if it's only by pennies -- Michigan was still among the nation's top three Wednesday, with an average price of $2.90 a gallon, the result of refinery slowdowns in the Midwest and the difficulty of trucking fuel into a peninsula.

Analysts said Michigan's rise to the top is unusual, because the state typically falls in the middle of nationwide price rankings. And while gas prices are still far below the painful $4 a gallon mark of last summer, the additional cost is further straining budgets at a time when many people are losing jobs and trying to make every penny count.

"Prices shouldn't be this high. This is sad," said Brandee Bracey, 43, of Detroit, a former truck driver turned life insurance agent, while filling up at a gas station on Fort Street in downtown Detroit.

"Hopefully, I don't over drive my budget," Bracey added, noting that she depends on her 1984 Chevy pickup to travel to clients' homes. "If I don't sell life insurance, I don't make a dime."

Many refineries near Chicago, from where Michigan typically gets its fuel supplies, have had to shutdown this spring for maintenance, limiting supply and pushing up prices.

"The Midwest market is an area that has seen tight gas supplies," said Jim Ritterbusch, of Ritterbusch and Associates, an oil trading advisory firm in Galena, Ill. For instance, the spring shutdown of BP's refinery in Whiting, Ind., has had a big impact on supplies. That refinery is expected to restart production this weekend, he added.

Market speculation also has given summer fuel prices a bump with many investors reacting to early signs of an economic turnaround, energy analysts said. Oil prices have been steadily climbing since March, reaching a year high of $71.33 a barrel on Wednesday.

The rise in gas prices is partly seasonal, as well, with more drivers hitting the roadways for summer vacations.

Luckily for penny pinchers, gas prices are expected to top out in early July, then gradually step down the rest of the summer, said Jim Rink, a spokesman for AAA Michigan.

"But we won't really know until early July," Rink said. "That's historically when [prices] peak."

AAA Michigan predicts gas prices will hover between $2.50 and $3 a gallon for the remainder of the year. When asked if prices might creep to more than $4 a gallon again, Rink replied: "I don't think so. The market just can't sustain that."

Nor can companies like the one Shane DeMeere works with.

The 19-year-old plumber from Almont said he puts about 30 gallons of gas in the company's van about every other day -- about an $87 fill-up now.

"When they jack it up 10 cents, that's a lot," he said.

But for John Mertz, 68, of St. Clair, these price fluctuations are worth getting used to.

Filling up his SUV at a Michigan Avenue gas station in Detroit, he made his predictions for next year: "If the economy ever comes back, $5 and $6 a gallon is going to be more common. We're just going to have to budget for it."

cvrogers@detnews.com (313) 222-2300