Gasoline Prices Drift Higher

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Jan 10, 6:43AM EST

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The average price of a gallon of regular nationwide is higher than it was a year ago, which is a fairly good measure of how much prices have risen. At $3.312 versus $3.310, the difference does not seem significant, but the period of increase has been long enough to matter.

The price of gasoline began to rise in earnest a month ago. At that point, the average price of a gallon rose to $3.326. In some of the largest states by population, the figure was much higher. In California, the current price is $3.658. In New York it is $3.692. In many other large states, except Texas, the number has tipped above $3.40.

Another sign that gas prices have risen is the number of states in which the average price of a gallon of premium is above $4. The figure is four, with several just below that level.

Although oil prices are not a perfect measure of the future of gasoline prices, their contribution is substantial. The current price of oil is about even with a year ago. However, over the past several weeks, the level has climbed. If political problems persist in the Middle East and central Africa, the rise could continue for a while. For now, that trend has been offset by an oversupply of crude. Persistent turmoil on the one hand, too much oil on the other.

Gas prices have not risen enough to affect the economy. And they may not come near $3.50 or $3.60 a gallon at all this year. But prices are rising again, and it is very hard to argue that the trend is positive.

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.