(WTAJ) — A 2023 fuel outlook released by Gasbuddy shows what gas prices could possibly look like in 2023 and a certain area of the country could potentially see prices his $7 a gallon.

After a rocky year for gas prices, Gasbuddy experts say that we could be getting a break in 2023. The yearly national average is forecast to drop nearly 50 cents per gallon from 2022 to roughly $3.49 and a possible summer average of $4.

It’s important to note that GasBuddy states there are variables to the oil and gas price that still leaves a level of uncertainty about future prices at the pump.

Highlights directly from GasBuddy’s 2023 Fuel Outlook:

• The national average price of gas could cool early in the year as demand remains seasonally weak, followed by a rise that starts in late winter, bringing prices to the $4 per gallon range in time for summer. Barring unexpected challenges, prices in 2023 should return to normal seasonal fluctuations, rising in the spring, and dropping after Labor Day into the fall.
• Though most major U.S. cities will see prices top around $4 per gallon, areas of California like San Francisco and Los Angeles could again experience near $7 gas prices again in the summer of 2023 if refineries struggle under mandates of unique formulations of gasoline.
• Americans will spend an estimated $470.8 billion on gasoline in 2023, down $55 billion from 2022. The estimated yearly household spend on gasoline will also fall $277 to $2,471.

“2023 is not going to be a cakewalk for motorists. It could be expensive,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “The national average could breach $4 per gallon as early as May – and that’s something that could last through much of the summer driving season.

In 2022, a number of states saw record-high gas prices at over $5 a gallon, including Pennsylvania, which has one of the highest gas taxes in the country — A tax we’ll see going up in 2023.

The Pennsylvania gas tax will go from 58 cents a gallon to 61 cents. Three cents isn’t much to most, but it could impact companies that use thousands of gallons of fuel a week such as UPS and any freight/delivery company out on the roads if wholesalers like Sheetz and Sam’s Club pass that tax to the customers.

According to GasBuddy, the highest gas prices in 2023 are expected to be seen in June just like we saw happen in 2022.