April 17 – Local gasoline prices continue to rise, this time driven in part by the switch to summer gasoline at gas stations.
Nationally, the average price of regular unleaded gas rose to $3.66 per gallon on Wednesday, up 2 cents from Tuesday and 20 cents from a month earlier, according to AAA. Although that is a highlight for this year, according to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, it is hardly any different from this time a year ago.
The average price should soon reach $3.70 per gallon and rise slightly above that, but not rise much further, De Haan told this news channel on Wednesday.
“It’s seasonal, but rising oil prices have also had some impact, pushing gasoline prices higher,” he said. “So (it’s mainly) another routine price cycle. My feeling is that… if a curveball doesn’t come out of left field, like a refinery, I think we’re getting close to the peak.”
There is a price cycle pattern in which stations ignore small daily fluctuations in the market, with most stations undercutting each other by a penny or two every day until the margin runs out, De Haan says. But when a retailer stops making money, it will raise its price by 25 to 40 cents per gallon to pass on any price differences and restore its margin to about 15 to 20 cents per gallon, he said.
In Dayton, the average price for a gallon of unleaded gas rose to $3.51 on Wednesday, up 18 cents from Tuesday and up 43 cents from a month earlier, according to AAA. In Springfield, rates were $3.47 cents on Wednesday, up 12 cents from Tuesday and up 33 cents from a month ago.
In Cincinnati, the price was $3.59, up 16 cents from Tuesday and up 30 cents from a month ago.
As of Wednesday morning, roughly a half-dozen gas stations in the Dayton area were still selling for about $3.10 a gallon, according to DaytonGasPrices.com, but dozens of gas stations that were in the $3.40 to $3.50 range had made the jump to $3.75 .
The statewide average price for a gallon of unleaded gas in Ohio also rose to $3.60, up 16 cents from Tuesday and up 38 cents from a month ago, according to AAA.
After already rising to a high of $3.75, prices in Ohio are expected to drop soon, De Haan said.
That’s about the same price at which Ohio peaked on April 21 last year, he said.
While there is the potential for oil prices to rise due to geopolitical tensions, including the conflict in the Middle East, motorists can expect other factors, including the switch to summer formula petrol, to have a greater impact on what they pay at the start. pump, said De Haan.
It’s likely that prices will improve by Memorial Day and into June, he said.
“People often think that prices peak in the summer, but they rarely peak in the summer,” says De Haan. ‘They normally peak at the height of maintenance, the switch to summer petrol and rising demand. All three of these are multi-layered reasons why gas prices are going up, and usually, when refinery maintenance ends in May, they increase energy prices. Exit.
“Once you finish maintenance, refineries ramp up production, and that usually leads to prices falling in June.”
