NOTTINGHAM, MD—Ending the 14 week stretch of gas prices declining, the nation’s average gas price has posted a rise of 3.2 cents from a week ago to $3.67 per gallon on Monday, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 stations nationwide.

The national average is down 17.5 cents from a month ago but still 49.3 cents higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has declined 5.1 cents in the last week and stands at $4.88 per gallon.

GAS PRICE BEHAVIOR SWINGS WILDLY

Refinery snags in some areas of the country are contributing to wild fluctuations as areas of the West Coast, Pacific Northwest, Great Lakes and Plains have seen significant refinery issues leading to supply challenges, causing prices to spike even as oil prices have dropped. However, the Northeast and Gulf Coast continue to see normal activity at refineries and prices there have dropped. The disconnect between regions grows larger and will likely remain abnormal for the next few weeks until refinery issues get under control and rectified.

“One of the longest gas price declines on record has finally come to an end after 14 weeks, with gas prices shooting up in several regions amidst myriad refinery issues from the West Coast to the Great Lakes and in between,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a wider gamut of price behaviors coast to coast in my career. A slew of unexpected refinery disruptions, including fires and routine maintenance, have seemingly all happened in a short span of time, causing wholesale gas prices to spike in areas of the West Coast, Great Lakes and Plains states – and some of those areas could see prices spike another 25-75 cents per gallon or more until issues are worked out. In addition, as Tropical Storm Ian nears the U.S. coast, some refiners could see limited disruption. As a precaution, GasBuddy has activated its Fuel Availability Tracker for motorists in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. Hopefully, disruptions will be very limited due to Ian, but there remain many factors driving prices both up and down across the country.”

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.29 per gallon, down 10 cents versus last week, followed by $3.39, $3.69, $3.89 and $3.49 rounding out the top five most common prices. The median U.S. gas price is $3.49 per gallon, up 5 cents from last week and about 18 cents lower than the national average. The top 10% of stations in the country average $5.45 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.93 per gallon. The states with the lowest average prices: Mississippi ($3.04), Georgia ($3.08) and Louisiana ($3.08). The states with the highest average prices: California ($5.65), Hawaii ($5.24) and Nevada ($5.00).

See previous gas price reports here

In the NottinghamMD.com coverage area, the cheapest gas as of Monday could be found at the following locations:

$3.23 per gallon
Costco
9919 Pulaski Highway
Middle River, MD 21220

$3.23 per gallon
Sam’s Club
6410 Petrie Way Rd.
Rosedale, MD 21237

$3.24 per gallon
BJ’s
4201 Wholesale Club Drive
Nottingham, MD 21236

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