BALTIMORE, MD—For the third consecutive week, the nation’s average price of gasoline has risen, climbing 5.2 cents from a week ago to $3.17 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 up 9.6 cents from a month ago but 20.0 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 6.9 cents in the last week and stands at $3.99 per gallon—55 cents lower than one year ago.

“We’ve seen the national average price of gasoline inching higher now for three straight weeks, but I’m afraid the worst is yet to come. With several major refinery issues persisting across various regions, the eventual transition to summer gasoline is likely to continue to put upward pressure on prices, with larger weekly increases likely coming in March and April,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “While I feel optimistic that the rise in prices will be merely average, the fact that we’ve already seen a few high-level refinery problems doesn’t bode well for the spring squeeze, and is a reminder to motorists that without the critical role that refineries play, we could see a bumpy transition to EPA-mandated summer gasoline.”

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.19 per gallon, up 20 cents from last week, followed by $2.99, $3.09, $2.89, and $2.79 rounding out the top five most common prices. The median U.S. gas price is $3.09 per gallon, up 10 cents from last week and about 7 cents lower than the national average. The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.34 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.61 per gallon. The states with the lowest average prices: Wyoming ($2.67), Oklahoma ($2.68), Colorado ($2.68). The states with the highest average prices: Hawaii ($4.66), California ($4.58), and Washington ($3.85).

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