Motorists Enjoy Brief Break From Pumped-Up Prices
CARS.COM — Gas prices fell or stabilized in several states the past week, giving motorists a temporary respite from a steady climb that started in early December. The national average for regular gas was $2.36 a gallon on Thursday, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report and GasBuddy.com, unchanged from a week ago.
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The national average has ticked down by about a penny since Monday as pump prices fell in the central part of the U.S., and either fell or were unchanged in several Southern states.
“There are signs brewing that motorists are still likely to get a small break from the rising prices during mid-January, lasting through mid-February,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick DeHaan said in a blog post. “Gasoline inventories soared last week, building supplies of winter gasoline at a time of year demand has been tepid at best.
“The buildup in inventories will need to be liquidated before refiners transition to summer gasoline, which usually begins in late February. One way refiners move this product is to offer discounts, which typically entices stations to fill their tanks often, depleting the winter spec fuel.”
Over the past week, statewide averages for regular fell by 3 cents in Illinois and Ohio, 5 cents in Kentucky, 8 cents in Michigan and 9 cents in Indiana.
In the West, however, prices rose in most states. AAA said several California refineries experienced a variety of issues that reduced gasoline output, including power outages, emergency repairs and scheduled maintenance. As a result of the reduced supply, prices rose 4 cents in Arizona and Washington, 5 cents in Alaska and Oregon, and 6 cents in Utah.
Gas remains the most expensive in Western states, led by Hawaii at $3.04, and followed by California, $2.81; Alaska, $2.77; and Washington, $2.74. All except for Alaska have seen double-digit increases over the past two weeks.
South Carolina had the lowest statewide average at $2.13, followed by Tennessee at $2.14, and Alabama and Mississippi at $2.15. (Prices fluctuate throughout the day and could change.)
The national averages for premium gas and diesel fuel rose a penny the past week to $2.85 and $2.53 a gallon, respectively.
At this time last year pump prices were on a sustained slide that lasted into February, and the price gap between then and now continues to widen. Average prices today are 40 cents higher for regular, 38 cents higher for premium and 33 cents higher for diesel.
DeHaan said that as of Monday just 9,500 gas stations across the U.S. were selling gas for $2 or less, compared with nearly 100,000 a year ago, 73 percent of the total.
The price increases that started in December were triggered when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries voted to cut oil production beginning Jan. 1. Since then, U.S. oil prices have risen about $10 a barrel to $53. Oil accounts for nearly half the cost of gasoline.
