CHICAGO – The national average price of gasoline today- $3.67/g- is up 15 cents from where it stood just one week and nowhere in the country has the price climb been any steeper than the Great Lakes region.
“Indiana’s prices have risen by 29 cents over the past week, nearly double the rate of increase the rest of the country is seeing,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. “And the price escalation has been nearly as exasperating for consumers in Michigan (+.27), Illinois (+.26) and Wisconsin (+.23).”
Additionally, the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s weekly report today said crude oil inventories decreased by 6.9 million barrels to a total of 367 million barrels, a level that is 10.4 million barrels below last year’s.
“If there’s a silver lining in the report it’s that gasoline inventory increased and refinery output is healthy,” said Gregg Laskoski, another senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy. “But with the backdrop of current demand and NYMEX crude at $106 we can only expect retail prices to continue their upward momentum,” Laskoski noted.
GasBuddy operates HonoluluGasPrices.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 which has been downloaded over 25 million times to help motorists find the lowest gasoline prices in their area.