"Prices for regular-grade gasoline could push $4 per gallon by the end of April or early May," according to the auto club.
Analysts blame rising crude oil prices sparked by speculation and fear over instability in Iran for the run-up in fuel prices. Gasoline has increased about 10 percent this year.
A contributing factor may be the idled state of the Sunoco Inc. refinery in Marcus Hook, just a few hundred yards from the service station where Bethard filled up on Monday.
Sunoco, saying Marcus Hook was bleeding cash, shut down the plant in December, not long after the nearby ConocoPhillips in Trainer called it quits. Together, the two refineries produced about 20 percent of the gasoline used in the Northeast. Their owners are trying to sell the plants, without success.
"As soon as these two refineries shut down, prices started rising," said Denis Stephano, president of United Steelworkers Union Local 10-234, which represents workers at the idled ConocoPhillips refinery.
"When you shut refineries down, you take refined product out of the market," he said.
The fuel-price increases follow a typical annual pattern, though it is happening earlier than in previous years. The Associated Press reported Saturday that gasoline prices had never been higher this time of the year, prompting media outlets to mobilize forces of commentators.
"I think this is very similar to past years, though the price increase has started earlier and is complicated by refinery shutdowns on the East Coast," said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service.
Price volatility could get worse in June if Sunoco is unable to find a buyer for its Philadelphia refinery, which processes 335,000 barrels a day, nearly as much as the two refineries in Marcus Hook and Trainer. Sunoco says it will shut the Philadelphia plant if it can't find a buyer.
