The average price across the United States for a gallon of gasoline last week rose 12.1 cents to $1.938, 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 Missouri (18.7 cents), Illinois (17.9 cents), Arizona (17.7 cents), Kentucky (17.5 cents) and Virginia (17.3 cents).
All 50 states saw an increase in gas prices compared with one week ago. The smallest increases came in Hawaii (0.7 cents), Alaska (1.7 cents) and Iowa (1.9 cents).
GasBuddy senior analyst Patrick DeHaan said:
The cheapest gas prices of the year are now solidly behind us as the national average will soon again hit $2. The current upward trend is an unfortunate one that we witness every year, but the sudden jolt this time around has been enhanced by a 45% jump in the price of crude oil in the last month.
That jump in crude prices has been fueled by hope that major producing nations will agree to cut production, a hope that we believe is wishful thinking. Iran has expressed its determination to continue raising production to help it win back market share, and other producers have agreed only to freeze production at January levels, which were the highest ever in Russia and the highest in at least a year in Saudi Arabia.
The U.S. gasoline supply has declined in recent weeks as refiners make the switch to summer-grade fuel, but inventories remain well above five-year averages. Still, pump prices should stay high as the refiners complete their turnarounds, mainly because summer-grade fuel is more expensive to make than winter-grade gas.
Crude oil for April delivery traded down more than 4% Monday morning to $36.94, after closing at $38.50 on Friday.
The states with the highest current pump prices are California ($2.595), Hawaii ($2.569), Nevada ($2.198), Washington ($2.182) and Alaska ($2.098).
The states with the lowest average price per gallon Monday morning are New Jersey and South Carolina, with a pump price of $1.695. Arizona ($1.705), Louisiana ($1.722) and Alabama ($1.729) round out the five states with the lowest average gas price.
Monday’s most common price for regular gasoline is $1.899 a gallon, a dime more than last week, and more than three-quarters (82.3%) of U.S. gas stations are selling gas for more than $1.75 a gallon.
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