NOTTINGHAM, MD—The nation’s average gas price has risen 0.6 cents per gallon from a week ago to $3.18 per gallon on Monday, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country. The national average now stands 3.5 cents higher than a month ago and $1.02 per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 2.0 cents in the last week and stands at $3.29 per gallon.

“Motorists have seen average gas prices edge slightly higher over the last week, even as the price of oil saw selling pressure. This leads me to believe that the tide may soon turn on gas prices, so long as we don’t see hurricanes target the country. In addition, GasBuddy data showed a decline in gasoline demand last week as we inch towards the end of the summer driving season, a time when demand softens,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “With the factors that drive prices higher now softening, I’m hopeful that in the next few weeks, we’ll start to see average gas prices declining. However, motorists shouldn’t get too excited yet – larger declines will likely not come until late September and October, as we transition back to cheaper winter gasoline.”

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists was $2.99 per gallon, unchanged from last week, followed by $2.89, $3.09 and $2.79.  The average cost at the priciest 10% of stations stands at $4.23 per gallon, up 2 cents from a week ago, while the lowest 10% average $2.71 per gallon, unchanged from a week ago. The median U.S. price is $3.00 per gallon, up a penny from last week and about 17 cents lower than the national average. The states with the lowest average prices: Mississippi ($2.77), Louisiana ($2.79) and Texas ($2.82). The states with the highest priced states: California ($4.37), Nevada ($4.04) and Hawaii ($4.04).

In the NottinghamMD.com coverage area, the cheapest gas as of Monday was located at Costco (9919 Pulaski Highway) and at Sam’s Club (6410 Petrie Way). The price per gallon for regular gas was $2.89 at each location, up from $2.87 last week. The most expensive gas as of Monday was located at the Exxon station at Honeygo Boulevard and Mercantile Road (21236), where regular gas costs $3.75 per gallon.

Photo by Ingo Joseph from Pexels