Michigan gas prices remain historically high, but expert predicts costs to drop by July 4

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - At a gas station in Allen Park, drivers could get gas for $4.99 a gallon. 

What a bargain.

The average gas prices in Metro Detroit Friday are around $5.29 a gallon. That's actually a bit lower than Thursday when they eclipsed $5.30. Could this be the beginning of a reversal of the highest costs for gas that Michigan and much of the country have ever seen?

Actually, maybe. 

Patrick De Haan, who works for Gas Buddy and tracks fuel prices across the country is asking people to not rush to fill up their gas tanks. "Prices in most areas of the US will be coming down in the days and weeks ahead," he tweeted Thursday morning.

"We could drop back to a national average of $4.75-$4.85 a gallon by July 4 if nothing changes."

Of course, a lot could change by then. Things changed enough over the past few months to have driven up prices as high as they've gotten. And De Haan warns that his prediction may be wrong should things change. 

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A 25 cent reduction in gas prices wouldn't offer that much relief relative to the skyhigh prices that drivers have continued to pay. 

De Haan said in replies to other comments on his tweets that "refineries finishing maintenance should raise production and hopefully help raise inventories."

However, summer travel typically puts upward pressure on the cost of gas, so the movement that De Haan is describing would have to contend with the normal market forces that usually send prices higher anyway.