Business, Sci-Tech

Gas prices surge higher for 7th straight week on Russia worries

NOTTINGHAM, MD—For the seventh straight week, the nation’s average gas price has climbed, rising 4.6 cents from a week ago and stands at $3.47 per gallon on Monday according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.

The national average is up 16.5 cents from a month ago and 97.2 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 8.9 cents in the last week and stands at $3.87 per gallon, the highest since July 2014.

“The jump in gasoline prices has continued unabated as oil prices continue to push higher, reaching $94 per barrel last week on continued concern over the possible imminent threat that Russia may invade Ukraine,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “Not only are oil prices up, but the bulk of the nation is starting the multi-month transition to summer gasoline, further adding to the rise at the pump. In addition, cold weather in Texas last week caused some power outages at major refineries, further weighing on markets. I see no other potentials in the short term but additional price increases unless Russia does an about-face on Ukraine. Even then, we’ll still see seasonality push prices up, so motorists should be ready to dig deeper.”

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.29 per gallon, up 10 cents from last week, followed by $3.19, $3.39, $3.49, and $3.09 rounding out the five most common prices.  The average cost at the priciest 10% of stations stands at $4.40 per gallon, up 1 cent from a week ago, while the lowest 10% average $3.04 per gallon, up 6 cents from a week ago.  The median U.S. price is $3.35 per gallon, up 6 cents from last week and about 12 cents lower than the national average.  The states with the lowest average prices: Oklahoma ($3.11), Mississippi ($3.13), and Texas ($3.13).  The states with the highest prices: California ($4.68), Hawaii ($4.44), and Washington ($3.93).

See previous gas price reports here

In the NottinghamMD.com coverage area, the cheapest gas as of Monday could be found at the following locations:

$3.25 per gallon
Royal Farms
500 Joppa Farm Road
Joppa, MD 21085

$3.28 per gallon
Costco
9919 Pulaski Highway
Middle River, MD 21220

$3.28 per gallon
Sam’s Club
6410 Petrie Way Road
Rosedale, MD 21237

Photo by Ingo Joseph from Pexels

Please follow and like us: