Energy

US Gas Price Hikes Continue, Just More Slowly

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The average price across the United States for a gallon of gasoline last week rose 4.5 cents to $1.984, as of Monday morning. Gas prices are now at their highest level since early January, according to GasBuddy.

Week over week, prices increased the most in Arizona (nearly 20 cents per gallon), Nevada (13 cents), Florida (12 cents), California (9 cents) and Wyoming (7 cents). The week-over-week increases are not as large as they were in the prior week, although the jump in Arizona was larger than the biggest gain last week. Just three states posted price hikes of more than 10 cents a gallon last week, compared with 32 states in the prior week.

All 50 states saw an increase in gas prices compared with one week ago. The cheapest gas in the country is available in New Jersey ($1.729 per gallon), South Carolina ($1.754), Louisiana ($1.786), Alabama ($1.789) and Mississippi ($1.791).

GasBuddy senior analyst Gregg Laskoski said:

With the U.S. average price of gas closing in on the $2 level, a price not seen since late December, it reflects a real paradox; we see simultaneously both a stark increase –25 cents per gal. in the past few weeks — and a reminder of how much we’re still saving. Even with the anticipated rise in retail prices to accommodate ‘summer blend’ gasoline regulations, and even with a 54% increase in crude oil from $26 to $40 for the benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the national average price of gas today remains some 45 cents lower than where we were exactly one year ago.

The states with the highest pump prices on Monday are California ($2.686 per gallon), Hawaii ($2.568), Nevada ($2.323), Washington ($2.239) and Alaska ($2.159).

Crude oil for May delivery traded up about 0.7% Monday morning at $41.42, after closing at $41.14 on Friday.

The most common price for regular gasoline is $1.999 a gallon, exactly a dime more than last week, and nearly 92% of U.S. gas stations are selling gas for more than $1.75 a gallon.

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