NOTTINGHAM, MD—For the fourth week in a row, the nation’s average gas price has climbed, rising 11.3 cents from a week ago to $3.39 per gallon this week, 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 30.2 cents from a month ago and 7.3 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 2.6 cents in the last week and stands at $4.60 per gallon.

“Gasoline prices continued their upward trajectory last week as oil prices pulled them higher across the majority of the country, and continued refinery challenges kept supply of gasoline from rising more substantially,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

“Macroeconomic factors have continued to weigh on oil and refined products, as strong demand in China hasn’t been slowed much by a surge in new Covid cases. In addition, releases of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve have wrapped up,” De Haan added. “Concerns are increasing that without additional oil, supply will tighten in the weeks ahead, especially as the nation starts to move away from softer demand in the height of winter. Moving forward, it doesn’t look good for motorists, with prices likely to continue accelerating.”

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.19 per gallon, unchanged from last week, followed by $3.39, $3.09, $3.29 and $3.49 rounding out the top five most common prices. The median U.S. gas price is $3.32 per gallon, up 13 cents from last week and about 7 cents lower than the national average. The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.23 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.93 per gallon. The states with the lowest average prices: Texas ($3.02), Oklahoma ($3.04) and Mississippi ($3.04). The states with the highest average prices: Hawaii ($4.87), California ($4.36) and Washington ($3.90).

See previous gas price reports here

In the NottinghamMD.com coverage area, the cheapest gas this week could be found at the following locations:

$3.26 per gallon
Costco
9919 Pulaski Highway
Middle River, MD 21220

$3.26 per gallon
Sam’s Club
6410 Petrie Way Road
Rosedale, MD 21237

Photo via Pixabay