Gasoline prices could rise sharply

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CHICAGO, Ill. — Motorists should be aware of the likelihood of a sharp rise in gasoline prices in the next few days and through the weekend in Ohio.

“I expect stations to have increased prices as much as 10-35 cents per gallon by the conclusion of the weekend with some stations starting to raise prices immediately,” said Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy.com senior petroleum analyst.

DeHaan warns that Tropical Storm Isaac, as well as murky regional refining issues, boosted wholesale gasoline prices to their highest level so far this year, rising 7 cents per gallon higher than their previous peak back in March. Wholesale gasoline prices, the price stations pay for new shipments of gasoline, rose 35 cents per gallon Monday, the largest one day increase in a year. While this situation is a significant pinch for motorists, it is temporary.

“I expect the situation to slowly resolve itself over the next few weeks, but as gasoline prices tend to fall slowly, motorists may not have a sense of real relief until late September,” DeHaan said.

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GasBuddy operates OhioGasPrices.com and over 250 similar websites that track gasoline prices at over 140,000 gasoline stations in the United States and Canada. In addition, GasBuddy offers a free smartphone app that has been downloaded over 20 million times to help motorists find gasoline prices in their area.