Highest gas prices in years expected to continue rising this summer

American motorists, already facing the highest gasoline prices since 2022, are likely to see fuel costs rise further as the busy summer travel season heats up.

A new forecast from tracking service GasBuddy predicts gas prices across the U.S. will average $4.80 a gallon between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day.

"This is the most volatile summer at the pump in years, Patrick De Haan, a petroleum expert at GasBuddy, said in a report.

The national average price for a gallon of gas was $4.56 on Wednesday, according to AAA, up more than $1.40 from last year and more than 50% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February.

Gas prices could test their all-time high of $5.02 a gallon if the Strait of Hormuz, a key Middle East waterway that normally accommodates a fifth of the world's global oil supply, remains closed late into the summer, according to De Haan. Ship traffic through the strait has largely stalled due to the Iran war, now in its 12th week, driving up global oil prices.

"Americans are going to pay billions more to get where they're going this summer, and even after the strait reopens, it could take a year or more for prices to fully recover," De Haan said.

The Middle East conflict is only one factor driving up pump prices. Fuel costs typically rise during the summer because U.S. environmental regulations require gas stations to switch to a more expensive blend. The higher-grade fuel, designed to guard against evaporation as temperatures rise, can add up to 15 cents per gallon to the cost of a filling up, according to GasBuddy.

As more Americans hit the road during the summer, stronger demand for gas can also push prices up by 5 to 15 cents a gallon, according to GasBuddy.

More than half of Americans say gas prices represent a financial hardship, while 77% say their income is not keeping up with rising inflation, according to a recent CBS News poll.