$4-a-Gallon Gas by Labor Day? Probably

Bad news for summer vacationers. Gas prices across the nation, back on the roller coaster, could hit $4 a gallon by Labor Day.

Stephen Schork, editor of The Schork Report, an energy newsletter, blames a surge in crude oil prices.

"It all comes down to crude oil, and crude oil over the last month has risen $13 a barrel," Schork told Newsmax in an exclusive interview. "The general rule of thumb is retail gasoline increases 2.5 cents a gallon for every $1 rise in crude oil prices."

Schork does the math for us. It means a 30- to 40-cent rise in gasoline prices prior to Labor Day, he tells us. The national average for regular unleaded stood at $3.66 a gallon Wednesday and "could be pushing up toward $4 by the end of this summer driving season," he said.

He lists three factors as responsible for the higher crude prices: 1) supply-and-demand fundamentals (over the last three weeks supply dropped by a record 27 barrels); 2) more money has flooded the market as Wall Street investors pull out of natural gas and jump back into crude; and 3) political turmoil in Egypt -- a country on the pipeline between the Middle East and the West.

The Nymex August crude contract settled at $106.48 a barrel Wednesday.