Gasoline Hits $3.50 in February…$4 pump prices soon.

Get ready to shell out a lot more at the pump this summer.

Every motorist knows that summertime means higher gas prices. Many factors come into play. For instance, during spring is when many refineries shut down for routine maintenance.

But 2012 has all the makings of a record breaker and not in a good way. Declining refinery capacity and rising tensions in the Middle East, in particular, the effect of sanctions on Iran, have combined to push the price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline above the $3.50 mark in February. And that’s a first.

Phil Flynn of PFG Best spoke to MarketWatch and downplayed talk he’s heard of prices hitting $5 a gallon, but did concede that he’s heard such talk. Tom Kloza, director of editorial content for the Oil Price Information Service, agreed, saying that prices would probably stay in the $3.75 to $4.25 range, near the 2008 record of $4.11.

When gas prices broached $4 a gallon in 2008, energy security became a leading topic during the presidential campaign. That summer, T. Boone Pickens launched the Pickens Plan to urge our country’s leaders to get a plan.

Read more HERE.