Business, Sci-Tech

Gas prices rise again on refinery challenges

NOTTINGHAM, MD—For the second consecutive week, the nation’s average gas price has risen, climbing 8.2 cents from a week ago to $3.25 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 unchanged from a month ago and 3.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 2.1 cents in the last week and stands at $4.64 per gallon.

“Last week, the rise in gasoline prices continued, still due to previous refinery outages caused by the cold weather the week of Christmas. However, I’m optimistic that as refiners get back online, we could see the increases slow down as we head into the time of year when gasoline demand is at its weakest,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

“While gasoline prices have rallied, average diesel prices continue to drift lower, which certainly bodes well for the overall economy. As long as refiners are able to get back online soon from previous cold-weather outages, we could see supply start to recover at the same time demand is weak, which could bring gas prices down again. The window of opportunity, however, is shrinking, and by late February or early March, we’ll likely kick off the seasonal rise in gasoline prices,” De Haan added.

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.29 per gallon, up 30 cents from last week, followed by $3.19, $2.99, $2.89 and $3.09 rounding out the top five most common prices.  The median U.S. gas price is $3.19 per gallon, up 10 cents from last week and about 6 cents lower than the national average.  The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.11 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.72 per gallon.  The states with the lowest average prices: Georgia ($2.77), Texas ($2.83), and Mississippi ($2.88).  The states with the highest average prices: Hawaii ($4.95), California ($4.35), and Nevada ($3.91).

See previous gas price reports here

In the NottinghamMD.com coverage area, the cheapest gas this week could be found at the following locations:

$2.99 per gallon
BJ’s
4201 Wholesale Club Drive
Nottingham, MD 21236

$2.99 per gallon
Sam’s Club
6410 Petrie Way Road
Rosedale, MD 21237

$3.05 per gallon
Costco
9919 Pulaski Highway
Middle River, MD 21220

Photo via Pixabay

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