Gas Prices Soar in Michigan, Indiana, Hawaii, and Ohio

The price of gasoline on Monday morning is up 3 cents compared with last week’s national average pump price for a gallon of regular gasoline. Compared with the same day last year, prices are 20 cents a gallon higher.

Average pump prices rose in 4 out of 5 states over the last week according to Gasbuddy as crude oil prices rose to more than $53 a barrel since the OPEC agreement was announced. Prices rose the most in Michigan (10 cents per gallon), Indiana and Hawaii (9 cents), and Ohio (7 cents).

Crude prices spiked Monday following reports that a total of around 1.8 million barrels a day will be cut from production beginning next month. The OPEC agreement reached 10 days ago slices 1.2 million barrels a day and the rest is coming from non-OPEC countries like Russia and Oman. If the cuts materialize as intended, global production will drop by nearly 2% a day.

Senior petroleum analyst at Gasbuddy, Patrick DeHaan, said:

Gas prices continue to play catch-up with oil prices, and as motorists traverse the nation’s thoroughfares for the holidays, they’ll be shelling out more money on gasoline. The current news and trends bode poorly for motorists who’ve gone back to driving larger cars over the last two years, and 2017 will likely see higher prices than where we stand today.

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Monday’s most common price for a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. is $2.099, flat compared with last year and 10 cents a gallon higher than a year ago.

There are no U.S. gas stations charging more than $4.00 a gallon for gas and just 0.1% charging between $3.50 and $4 a gallon. No gas station is charging less than $1.75 a gallon and more than about 78% are charging more than $2.00 a gallon.

The five states where average gasoline prices were cheapest were Oklahoma ($1.944), Arkansas ($1.973),  Missouri ($1.973), Texas ($1.983), and Wyoming ($2.016).

The five states posting the highest averages were Hawaii ($2.914), California ($2.666), Washington ($2.588), Alaska ($2.538), and Washington, D.C. ($2.504).

Crude oil prices are up about 3.4% Monday morning with WTI crude oil for January delivery trading at $53.23 after closing at $51.50 on Friday. The price reached a new 52-week high of $54.51 earlier this morning.

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