BALTIMORE, MD—The nation’s average gas price has risen 1.3 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 is up 18 cents from a month ago and $1.01 per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 0.7 cents in the last week and stands at $3.29 per gallon.

“Gas prices have been stuck in somewhat of a limbo and remain near 2021 highs long after Hurricane Ida has dissipated. The damage done to oil production has been left behind and so far has prevented prices from resuming their seasonal decline,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “Ida caused the loss of over 30 million barrels of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, and with gasoline demand remaining relatively high for the season, oil inventories remain relatively tight, preventing any organized decline in gas prices for the time being. As a result, we may have to wait a couple more weeks until hurricane season slows for oil inventories to start to rise and gas prices to fall.”

GAS PRICE TRENDS

• The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists was again $2.99 per gallon, unchanged from last week, followed by $3.09, $2.89 and $2.79.
• The average cost at the priciest 10% of stations stands at $4.19 per gallon, unchanged from a week ago, while the lowest 10% average $2.69 per gallon, also unchanged from a week ago.
• The median U.S. price is $3.06 per gallon, up 7 cents from last week and about 12 cents lower than the national average.
• The states with the lowest average prices: Texas ($2.78), Mississippi ($2.79) and Oklahoma ($2.82).
• The states with the highest priced states: California ($4.36), Hawaii ($4.03) and Nevada ($3.92).

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 $2.78 at each location, an increase of $0.03 last week. BJ’s (4201 Wholesale Club Drive) also checks in at $2.83 per gallon.

Photo by Ingo Joseph from Pexels