CARS.COM — The national average price for regular gasoline dropped by a penny a gallon the past week, but pump prices rose or fell by much larger amounts in different parts of the country based on local supply issues. Prices continued to drop in Western states, with the average falling by 5 cents in California, 8 cents in Arizona and 9 cents in Nevada, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge report on Thursday.
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It was a different story in the middle of the country. The average price for regular gas jumped by 7 cents a gallon in Oklahoma, 9 cents in Kansas and Missouri, and 11 cents in Minnesota and Ohio. At $1.81 a gallon in Ohio, regular gas is 35 cents higher than it was two weeks ago. As Ohio motorists dug deeper to fill their tanks, the average price climbed by only a penny in neighboring Michigan and fell by 3 cents in Indiana.
Two weeks ago seven states averaged less than $1.50 a gallon; now there is none, AAA said. Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee all were at $1.50 for statewide averages Thursday morning. (Prices fluctuate throughout the day and could change.)
Regular gas averaged more than $2 in only four states Thursday, down from six two weeks ago. Hawaii was highest at $2.56, followed by California at $2.31, Alaska at $2.19 and Washington at $2.02.
Premium gas fell by a penny the past week to a national average of $2.21, and diesel fuel fell by the same to $1.98. Diesel is 90 cents cheaper than a year ago, premium is 51 cents cheaper and regular is 62 cents cheaper. On Feb. 25, 2013, the national average for regular gas was $3.78, more than double what it is now.
Motorists should expect prices to rise soon, however, as refiners and distributors are selling down remaining stocks of winter blends of gasoline before they switch over to summer blends that are more expensive to produce. In addition, spring is when refineries conduct routine seasonal maintenance, which temporarily reduces the supply of gas and causes prices to rise.
GasBuddy.com said motorists in Western states are seeing lower prices because distributors are purging their supply of winter gas, and the benefit will only be temporary.
"For motorists, even those in the West Coast, any remaining gas price declines are racing against the clock as we progress towards warmer weather, higher demand and summer specification fuels," GasBuddy senior analyst Patrick DeHaan said in a statement. "While some areas — mainly the West Coast — could see prices pushing lower, the weeks ahead will more likely be replaced with higher gasoline prices."
from Cars.com News http://ift.tt/1QBAkAs
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