prices to rise next year. they see a 2022 average of $3.41 a gallon, up from around $3 this year. they think gas prices are going to peak in may at $3.79 a gallon, essentially right as everyone is heading out for the summer, memorial day weekend, we could be seeing gas prices flirting with $4 a gallon before they fall sharply later in the year. now, this would unwind some of the recent progress we've seen on the gas front. the national average is currently $3.28 a gallon. that's not cheap. it's up by about a dollar from a year ago. but it is down 14 cents from the peak we saw in early november. we should note, there is a lot of uncertainty here. others are calling for gas prices to drop. citi group has predicted and warned their clients there's going to be what they called a, quote, radical drop in energy prices. the energy department's research arm is calling for an average of $2.88 a gallon next year.