Have Gasoline Prices Hit a Bottom?
Gasoline pump prices are starting to tick higher after nearly four months of steady declines. In the past week, the price for a gallon of regular gas has inched up two cents.
Gasoline pump prices are starting to tick higher after nearly four months of steady declines. In the past week, the price for a gallon of regular gas has inched up two cents and the national average price stands at $2.06 on Monday.
That is still $1.22 a gallon less than the year-ago price, but three cents more than the recent low of $2.03 reached on January 26, according to AAA. Since their 52-week high of $3.70 gallon last April, gas prices have dropped by $1.64 a gallon.
AAA attributes the rise to the beginning of the traditional spring maintenance at U.S. refineries and the start of the switch to producing summer-grade fuel. Stabilizing crude oil prices have also contributed to the increase in the pump price.
More than half of U.S. gas stations are selling regular gasoline for less than $2 a gallon. The most common price is $1.999 a gallon. A week ago more than 60% of gas stations across the country were selling gas for less than $2 a gallon.
The states with the lowest prices are Idaho ($1.85), Texas ($1.87), Oklahoma ($1.87), South Carolina ($1.87) and Utah ($1.87).
The five states with the highest prices are Hawaii ($3.11), Alaska ($2.64), California ($2.45), New York ($2.39) and Vermont ($2.30).
AAA noted that it is not unusual for gasoline prices to rise by as much as 30 to 50 cents a gallon in the period from early February to mid-spring due to lower refinery production as maintenance is performed. Over the past five years, the average increase has been 22 cents a gallon. AAA also said that it did not expect the national average price to rise above $3 a gallon in 2015.
ALSO READ: Refinery Strike Not Likely to Boost Crude Oil Prices
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.
