BALTIMORE, MD—For the first time since mid-September, the nation’s average price of gasoline has increased, rising 2.9 cents from a week ago to $3.07 per gallon this week according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 12 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.

The national average is down 13.8 cents from a month ago but 1.8 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 0.6 cents in the last week and stands at $4.00 per gallon—68 cents lower than one year ago.

“After 13 straight weeks of decline, average gasoline prices have edged higher due to optimistic comments from the Fed on cutting interest rates in 2024, coupled with Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, boosting concerns of a disruption to global shipping, including oil shipments,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “For now, the price of gasoline has already jumped but could ease slightly this week ahead of the New Year. For now, I’m optimistic that we may still have a chance of seeing the first $2.99 national average since 2021 sometime before spring arrives. We’ll have the full details on what we expect for gasoline and diesel prices in 2024 later this week. Hopefully, motorists will be able to celebrate a New Year with good news at the pump!”

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $2.99 per gallon, unchanged from last week, followed by $2.89, $2.79, $3.15, and $2.69 rounding out the top five most common prices. The median U.S. gas price is $2.95 per gallon, up 7 cents from last week and about 12 cents lower than the national average. The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.34 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.52 per gallon. The states with the lowest average prices: Oklahoma ($2.60), Mississippi ($2.64), and Texas ($2.65). The states with the highest average prices: Hawaii ($4.61), California ($4.54), and Washington ($4.07).

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