Bad news for motorists or road trip hopefuls: gas prices have recently risen seventeen cents and prices are only expected to go up. The average gas price across the country is $3.33 according to AAA, the motorist group that regularly tracks gas prices. This is the highest national average this country has since since October of 2008. Prices rose four days in a row, indicating that prices are only on the rise and may rise further.
Naturally, gas prices differ depending on where you are in the country. Hawaii saw the country’s highest gas prices, with average prices at the pump hovering around $3.71. On the cheap end of the spectrum, Wyoming had the lowest gas prices in the country. Wyoming drivers faced an average of $3.03 at their local gas stations.
The Oil Price Information Service reported that a recent 6-cent jump in gas prices was the largest one day increase since 2008, if not before. Gas prices are dependant on crude oil prices. Crude oil has had a surge in price recently, and gas has followed. Oil barrel prices are currently at $103 a barrel, which is the highest price for oil since October 2008. Oil prices have seen a 9 percent increase in price.
Seeing as gas prices tend to follow a couple days behind oil prices, gas prices are only expected to rise. Prices could rise as much as 37 cents in the next month. For every one dollar increase in barrel oil, gas prices generally rise two and a half cents per gallon. Recent political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa have driven oil prices higher, seeing that most of the oil in the world comes from there.