The Shadow
RICHMOND — Pump prices on the West Coast increased as much as 20 cents this past week, driving the national average up nearly 10 cents to $2.83 on the week.
As stocks tighten out west due to unplanned and planned maintenance, California’s average jumped to $4.00, the most expensive state average this week and a price point not seen in the Golden State since July 2014.
“We are seeing very expensive gas prices for this time of year across the country,” said Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson. “Motorists are seeing prices increase as gasoline stocks decreased substantially by 7.7 million bbl amid summer-like demand readings.”
The current national average is three cents more than last month and 12 cents more than a year ago.
The nation’s 10 largest weekly increases are: California (up 20 cents), Nevada (up 18 cents), Missouri (up 13 cents), Oregon (up 12 cents), Alaska (up 12 cents), Washington (up 12 cents), Utah (up 12 cents), Colorado (up 12 cents), Idaho (up 11 cents) and Kansas (up 11 cents).
The nation’s 10 least expensive markets are: Alabama ($2.50), Mississippi ($2.51), Arkansas ($2.52), South Carolina ($2.52), Louisiana ($2.54), Texas ($2.57), Virginia ($2.57), Oklahoma ($2.59), New Hampshire ($2.59) and Missouri ($2.60).
A handful of Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states saw significant increases at the pump: Pennsylvania (up 9 cents), Tennessee (up 8 cents), Rhode Island (up 7 cents) and Connecticut (up 7 cents). With this past week’s increases Pennsylvania ($2.97) and Washington, D.C. ($2.92) inch closer to the $3/gallon mark and are on the top list for most expensive averages in the country.
Year-over-year, most states in the region have more expensive gas price averages except for Maine (down 3 cents), New Hampshire (down 1 cent) and Rhode Island (down 1 cent). Whereas Delaware ($2.60) and Massachusetts ($2.65) have the same price compared to this time last year.
Oil prices increased last week, and will likely continue their ascent this week, as a weaker dollar helped to push crude prices up because of the increased number of dollars needed to purchase crude on the global market.
Another contributing factor to the price jumps came from reports that there was a 534,000-b/d decline in crude production by OPEC members in March, led by Saudi Arabia cutting back by 324,000 b/d.
The news underscores that OPEC and its partners are making reductions in service consistent with their 1.2 million b/d production reduction agreement, which is in place through June.
