BALTIMORE, MD—As the unofficial start to the summer driving season has begun, the nation’s average price of gasoline has risen 2.7 cents from a week ago to $3.55 per gallon, 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 price of diesel has fallen 4.9 cents in the last week and stands at $3.91 per gallon.

“Gasoline prices have drifted higher in the last week due to some relatively minor refinery kinks and low gasoline supply, but it may not be a trend that lasts too much longer,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

“As we unofficially start the summer driving season, the national average is likely to spend much of the summer in the range of $3.35-$3.85 per gallon, though it could go higher if unexpected refinery outages flare up, or we see a major hurricane or economic development,” De Haan added. “While gasoline prices have inched up slightly, we’re still faring much better than we did last year, when the national average started to soar after Memorial Day on its way up to the $5 per gallon mark. In addition, gas prices may temporarily rally if a debt ceiling deal passes through Congress in the weeks ahead, based on the optimism that such a deal could avert a major recession, keeping oil demand stronger this summer.”

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.39 per gallon, unchanged from last week, followed by $3.49, $3.59, $3.29, and $3.19 rounding out the top five most common prices. The median U.S. gas price is $3.41 per gallon, up 2 cents from last week and about 14 cents lower than the national average. The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.73 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.97 per gallon. The states with the lowest average prices: Mississippi ($2.96), Louisiana ($3.09), and Texas ($3.09). The states with the highest average prices: California ($4.77), Hawaii ($4.75), and Washington ($4.61).

See previous gas price reports here

In the Baltimore metro area, the cheapest gas this week could be found at the following locations:

Photo via Pixabay