COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) - We are just halfway thru February and regular self-serve gas prices are already flirting with the $4 mark in Branch County and Southwest Michigan. This past weekend started with at least a 20-cent a gallon spike with a lot of stations hiking their price to around $3.95 a gallon.

The analysts say this is the season that refineries do maintenance before they switch over to summer blends, and that constricts the supply. Tom Kloza with the Oil Price Institute says it’s also speculators driving up prices on the commodities exchange and it’s happening earlier because of financial traders who are probably anticipating what’s going to occur. Michigan Triple-A will release their weekly