Last week alone the national average price of a gallon of gas rose 13 cents, according to AAA. In California, where Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO) shut down one of its plants when the United Steelworkers strike began and Exxon Mobil Corp.’s (NYSE: XOM) Torrance refinery suffered an explosion in February, gasoline prices have jumped about $0.95 in just 31 days.
AAA thinks that gas prices could rise another 20 cents per gallon in March, from today’s average of $2.43 as refinery maintenance continues. A spokesman for AA said:
Paying $2 for gas will seem like a distant memory for most drivers in the coming weeks. Gasoline remains much cheaper than in recent years, but drivers may not appreciate that fact given the steep increase in price over the past month. … The good news is that most U.S. drivers should still pay less than $3 per gallon to fill up their cars this year.
According to AAA, about 1% of U.S. gas stations are currently selling gasoline for less than $2 a gallon, down from more than 60% in January. The most common price today is $2.299 per gallon, compared with a most common price of $1.899 in January.
The five states with the highest average prices are California ($3.39), Hawaii ($3.05), Nevada ($2.79), Oregon ($2.78) and Alaska ($2.77). The five states with the lowest average prices are Utah ($2.05), Idaho ($2.05), Wyoming ($2.09), Montana ($2.11) and South Carolina ($2.13).
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