Wire and staff report

First it was a tax hike. Now consumers are looking at a higher than expected gasoline bill for 2013.

The government on Tuesday boosted its forecast for gasoline prices this year by 11 cents to an average of $3.55 a gallon. That would be the second-highest annual average ever, behind last year’s $3.63 a gallon.

The move comes at a time when area gas prices have been rising. On Tueasday, they were at their the highest level since early October.

The revised forecast follows a more than 10 percent increase in gas prices since the middle of December. The Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the Energy Department, says the average gas price jumped from $3.25 on Dec. 17 to $3.61 Monday.

In its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA primarily pins the increase on higher oil prices. Brent crude, the benchmark for many international varieties of oil imported to the U.S., rose from $109 a barrel in mid-December to about $119 in early February. That $10 increase equates to about 24 cents per gallon of gas, the EIA says. U.S. benchmark crude rose $8 a barrel, to nearly $96 in the same time frame.

Consumers are already feeling a pinch from higher taxes. The expiration of last year’s payroll tax reduction will cost an extra $579 for households making $40,000 to $50,000 in 2013, according to the Tax Policy Center, a non-partisan Washington research group.

Still, there is some good news: The government expects oil prices to drop because of increased production in countries outside of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. For instance, crude oil production in the U.S. is expected to grow 13 percent to 7.25 million barrels a day this year.

As a result, the government says, gas should peak at an average $3.73 a gallon in May, 21 cents below last year’s high of $3.94 in early April.

In Southwest Ohio, the average price of regular-grade gas on Tuesday reached $3.72 per gallon, according to DaytonGasPrices.com, a web-based service that uses spotters to track area gas prices. That’s up 5 cents from Monday’s average price and 50 cents from a month ago, according to the website.

The national average of as Tuesday morning was $3.57 a gallon, according to the website.