Gasoline prices hover around $2/gallon

VW independent/submitted information

Average retail gasoline prices in Ohio have not moved in the past week, averaging $1.92 per gallon on Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 5,345 gas outlets in Ohio. This compares with the national average, which has increased 4.9 cents per gallon in the last week to $1.98 per gallon, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.

Including the change in gas prices in Ohio during the past week, prices Sunday were 42.7 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 22.9 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has increased 27.4 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 44.0 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.

“With the U.S. average price of gas closing in on the $2 level, a price not seen since late December, it reflects a real paradox: we see simultaneously both a stark increase — 25 cents per gallon in the past few weeks — and a reminder of how much we’re still saving,” said Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy. “Even with the anticipated rise in retail prices to accommodate ‘summer blend’ gasoline regulations, and even with a 54 percent increase in crude oil from $26 to $40 for the benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the national average price of gas today remains some 45 cents lower than where we were exactly one year ago.”