WASHINGTON. AND THE CONFLICT HAS EXPERTS DELIVERING WARNINGS OVER THE RISE IN GAS PRICES IN THE UNITED STATES. NATIONWIDE, THE AVERAGE FOR A GALLON OF REGULAR GAS IS ABOUT 3.16. IN WISCONSIN, IT’S 303. GASBUDDY PREDICTS THOSE COSTS TO GO UP BY THE END OF THE WEEK. SO LET’S GET SOME INSIGHT AND ANALYSIS FROM GASBUDDY. GUY HIMSELF, PATRICK DE HAAN. GOOD TO TALK TO YOU, PATRICK. THANKS FOR JOINING US THIS AFTERNOON. I WANT TO START WITH SOME OF YOUR TWEETS FROM THIS WEEK. AND ONE, YOU WROTE 33 STATES, SAW AVERAGE PRICES RISE OVER THE LAST WEEK, WHILE 17 SAW DECREASES BY LATER THIS WEEK. WILL LIKELY SEE NEARLY ALL STATES WITH PRICE INCREASES AS RETAIL GAS PRICES RISE FOLLOWING IRAN. ISRAEL ATTACKS. YOU WENT ON TO SAY GAS PRICE HIKES LIKELY TO HAPPEN SOON IN MICHIGAN, WISCONSIN, FLORIDA AND POTENTIALLY IN OHIO, INDIANA, ILLINOIS, KENTUCKY. AND THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST. SO HERE WE ARE WHERE THOSE PRICES YOU’RE EXPECTING TO GO UP AGAIN. WELL, IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG. I FILLED UP IN KENOSHA OVER THE WEEKEND FOR 279. THAT SAME STATION IS NOW 319 A GALLON. YOU’RE STARTING TO SEE THAT ACROSS WISCONSIN. SO IF YOU SEE YOUR STATION GO UP $0.40 A GALLON, A LOT OF THIS IS DUE TO A BEHAVIOR WE CALL RECYCLING. BUT THAT PRICE CYCLING IS GREATLY BEEN ENHANCED OR PUSHED FORWARD BECAUSE OF THE MIDDLE EASTERN ATTACKS. THAT’S CAUSED OIL PRICES TO RISE DRAMATICALLY. IN FACT, OIL UP ANOTHER 5% TODAY. SO IF YOU’VE ALREADY SEEN A BIG INCREASE, YOU COULD SEE ANOTHER DOSE OF INCREASES HERE OVER THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO. PRICES IN WISCONSIN, ON AVERAGE COULD RISE ANOTHER 10 TO $0.25 A GALLON. LIKE I SAID, WE’VE ALREADY SEEN A BIG RISE AT SOME STATIONS, BUT SOME MORE INCREASES COULD BE ON THE WAY. AND I THINK FOR DIESEL PROBABLY OF INCREASE OF 15 TO $0.40 A GALLON AS WELL. SO DIESEL MAY GET IT JUST AS BAD AS GASOLINE. I’M GLAD YOU MENTIONED THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS, BECAUSE WE KNOW THE NEXT BIG HOLIDAY IS THE 4TH OF JULY. WE TALKED TO YOU RIGHT BEFORE MEMORIAL DAY, THE UNOFFICIAL START OF SUMMER, AND WE HAVE THE PRICES FOR GAS IN WISCONSIN. THEN RIGHT HERE ON OUR SCREEN. 302 THAT WAS JUST BEFORE MEMORIAL DAY. HERE WE ARE THREE DAYS BEFORE THE OFFICIAL THE FORMAL START OF SUMMER. WE’RE AT 303. SO INCHING FORWARD CLOSELY. DO YOU EXPECT THAT TO CONTINUE AS WE HEAD TO THE NEXT HOLIDAY, JULY 4TH? YEAH, PROBABLY. AND IN FACT, THAT 302 ON MEMORIAL DAY ACTUALLY FELL EVERY SINGLE DAY UNTIL ABOUT SUNDAY. AVERAGE GAS PRICES STATEWIDE ON SUNDAY WERE 2.92 A LIVE READING RIGHT NOW AT WHAT WE’RE LOOKING AT IS 303, AND EVERY FIVE MINUTES IS OUR DATA IS UPDATING THAT INCHING UP A LITTLE HIGHER TO REFLECT THE FACT THAT A LOT OF STATIONS HAVE GONE UP. SO UNLESS THERE’S SOME VERY QUICK DE-ESCALATION, WE’RE PROBABLY GOING TO SEE WISCONSIN PRICES CONTINUING TO DRIFT HIGHER AHEAD OF JULY 4TH. AND IF THERE ARE ADDITIONAL ESCALATIONS, WE COULD SEE PRICES SAILING BEYOND THE $3 MARK, MAYBE EVEN INTO THE LOW OR MID $3 RANGE HERE OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS. OF COURSE, I HATE TO MENTION IT, BUT WATCH OUT, THERE HAVE BEEN A COUPLE OF LOW LEVEL REFINERY ISSUES. IN FACT, LAST WEEK AN EXXONMOBIL REFINERY OUTSIDE CHICAGO EXPERIENCING A FLARING EVENT GENERALLY INDICATIVE OF A DISRUPTION TO OPERATIONS THERE. SO A LOT ON THE TABLE RIGHT NOW. AND UNFORTUNATELY, IT’S NOT GOING TO BE GOOD NEWS GOING INTO JULY 4TH, WITH GAS PRICES LIKELY TRENDING HIGHER. AND WE HAVE THE PRESIDENT CALLING FOR A CEASE FIRE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. COULD A POTENTIAL CEASE FIRE AFFECT THOSE PRICES? AND WE SEE THEM COME DOWN? WELL, CERTAINLY. COULD. DE-ESCALATION WOULD HELP DE-ESCALATE THE PRICE OF OIL. BUT I THINK RIGHT NOW WE’RE ALSO SEEING PRESIDENT TRUMP MULL A DECISION WHETHER TO USE U.S. MUNITIONS ON AN ATTACK ON IRAN, AND THAT COULD SEND OIL PRICES EVEN HIGHER. AND TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY, NEW GOVERNMENT DATA, I SHOULD SAY, DATA OUT FROM THE AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE JUST MOMENTS AGO SHOWED A MASSIVE 10 MILLION BARREL DECLINE IN U.S. OIL INVENTORIES IN THE LAST WEEK. IF GOVERNMENT DATA ISSUED TOMORROW AGREES WITH THAT, OIL PRICES COULD HEAD CLOSER TO $80 A BARREL AND THAT COULD SEND GAS PRICES EVEN HIGHER. CERTAINLY WHAT WE DO NOT WANT, BUT MORE REASON TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND THE WORLD. PATRICK DEHAAN, THE GASBUDDY GUY. THANKS FOR JOINING US WITH YOUR INSIGHT.