Gasoline prices headed upward soon

Gasoline price news

CHICAGO — The national average price of gasoline on Wednesday, $3.52 per gallon, is 11 cents less than it was a month ago, but the gap is closing quickly as prices in recent days began moving higher. Most notably, the Midwest and Great Lakes region have seen the steepest increases, with many of those states recording 10-cent increases (or more) in just the last week.

“With NYMEX crude oil over $105 per barrel today and with concerns about who’s running the government in Egypt and the security of the Suez Canal, it’s not surprising that we’re seeing wholesale and retail gasoline prices rise,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.

The key question, he added, is: ‘How long will the run-up in crude oil last?’

“What’s even more troubling is that the Department of Energy’s weekly report today showed the second consecutive week with exceptional declines in crude oil (9.9 million barrels this week) inventory, totaling a 20 million barrel decline in the past two weeks,” he added.  “So there’s no getting around the fact that prices go up when supply diminishes.”

“The future looks dim again for motorists as oil prices have risen $10 per barrel in just the last two weeks. It’s all but guaranteed to mean another round of price increases as motorists hit the road for summer vacations, taking a bigger bite out of their wallets,” added Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.

About GasBuddy

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 25 million times to help motorists find the lowest gasoline prices in their area.