CARS.COM — Gas prices started to retreat this week after reaching a calendar year high — including in the Great lakes area, where motorists had experienced double-digit increases in recent weeks. The national average for regular gas was $2.36 a gallon on Thursday, according to both the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report and GasBuddy.com. AAA said that is the lowest price for this time of year since 2005.
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That price was unchanged from a week ago but down 3 cents since Saturday, when GasBuddy said regular gas hit a 2016 high of $2.39 a gallon. The low point for this year was on Feb. 15, when regular averaged $1.70.
Pump prices in the Midwest have eased back from recent spikes brought on by high demand for gas and reduced production at regional refineries caused by planned and emergency maintenance. Since Monday, statewide averages for regular have fallen 6 cents in Michigan, 7 cents in Indiana and 8 cents in Ohio, AAA reported. Prices climbed rapidly in those states, as well as in Illinois, the past four weeks. As of Thursday, average prices were higher than a month ago by 28 cents in Illinois, by 29 cents in Indiana, by 35 cents in Ohio and by 43 cents in Michigan.
Prices typically rise during the spring and early summer because of increased demand and a switch to summer gasoline blends that are more expensive to produce, but this year has seen several supply issues. Fires in Alberta, Canada, have crippled oil production there; refinery outages have reduced gas production in parts of the U.S.; and two U.S. pipelines are undergoing emergency repairs.
Moreover, the price of oil hit $52 a barrel last week, a calendar year high and an increase of $13 since April. U.S. oil had fallen back to $47 as of early Thursday.
"The cost of crude oil has moved higher over the past few weeks, which has made gasoline more expensive to start the summer driving season," AAA said in a statement. "With all other factors being equal, a $1-per-barrel change in the price of crude oil can increase gas prices by 2.4 cents per gallon. Prices may continue to fluctuate on the heels of news related to global oil supply and the U.S. dollar, which could have a major impact on what drivers pay for gasoline this summer."
No need to panic, though, said Patrick DeHaan, senior analyst for GasBuddy. Prices should come down later this summer.
"As kinks are ironed out and production of gasoline ramps up, we expect gasoline prices to cool in the next few weeks in much of the country, barring any unforeseeable events, " DeHaan said in a statement. "We're sticking by our previous forecast of an average U.S. gas price of $2.41 per gallon during the summer driving season."
South Carolina had the lowest statewide average for regular gas, $2.06 a gallon, according to AAA, followed by Mississippi at $2.09 and Arkansas at $2.11. The highest average prices were in California, where regular was $2.86; Hawaii, $2.74; Alaska, $2.69; and Michigan, $2.68.
The national average for premium gas and diesel fuel inched up a penny the past week to $2.84 and $2.37, respectively. Compared with a year ago, regular gas is 44 cents cheaper, premium is 35 cents cheaper, and diesel is 50 cents cheaper.
from Cars.com News http://ift.tt/1QbmH1u
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