Gas Prices Likely to Rise Until Memorial Day

The average price across the United States for a gallon of gasoline last week rose 5.2 cents to $2.041, as of Monday morning. Gas prices have remained above $2 a gallon for five straight days now, according to GasBuddy, the longest streak since last year.

Week over week, prices increased the most in Arizona (14 cents per gallon), New Hampshire (11 cents), Massachusetts (11 cents), Connecticut (11 cents) and South Carolina (11 cents). Just two states posted price declines last week: Michigan, down 6.1 cents, and North Dakota, down 0.1 cent.

The cheapest gas in the country is available in New Jersey ($1.827 per gallon), Oklahoma  ($1.835), Missouri ($1.851), Alabama ($1.857) and Louisiana ($1.858). See the map at the end of this story for a graphical view of U.S. gasoline prices.

GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan observed:

As crude oil prices fell gently last week back under $40 per barrel, motorists shouldn’t necessarily expect the worst increases to be over just yet. Until the bulk of refinery maintenance season wraps up in late May, we likely won’t see the lower oil prices immediately bring relief to the pump as oil and gasoline inventories continue to move in the opposite direction. Last week, the Energy Information Administration pointed to a huge 9.4 million barrel rise in oil inventories while gasoline inventories fell nearly five million barrels, which points to continued tightness in supply and likely a continued rise in gasoline prices for the time being.

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The states with the highest pump prices are: California ($2.777 per gallon), Hawaii ($2.571), Nevada ($2.420), Washington ($2.279) and Alaska ($2.242).

Crude oil for May delivery traded down about 0.4% Monday morning at $39.30, after closing at $39.46 on Friday.

This most common price for regular gasoline is $1.999 a gallon, unchanged from last week, and nearly 98% of U.S. gas stations are selling gas for more than $1.75 a gallon.