WASHINGTON and BOSTON -- Are gas prices up or down? It all depends on your viewpoint.
The national average hit $2.06 per gallon this past Monday, up 2 cents per gallon (CPG) from the week prior, and 24 CPG higher month over month, according to AAA, Washington. The top five highest state averages were in California at $2.79 per gallon, Hawaii ($2.60), Nevada ($2.45), Washington ($2.30) and Alaska ($2.27). The largest month-over-month increases in state averages occurred in Arizona (57 CPG), Nevada (42 CPG) and California (35 CPG).
Despite the weekly and monthly increase, however, the national average was still at its lowest point for the date since 2009, and at a 34-CPG discount from this same time last year, said AAA. In fact, the averages in 46 states and D.C. were down more than 25 CPG year over year, with the biggest declines in Alaska (64 CPG), Oregon (54 CPG) and Hawaii (53 CPG).
Boston-based GasBuddy reported that the national average rose to its highest point since November 2015. Week over week, Michigan had the biggest increase in its state retail average (11.2 CPG), followed by Arizona (8.3 CPG), Utah (5.9 CPG) and Hawaii (5.7 CPG).
But motorists are still paying about $130 million less per day than this same point a year ago, when the average was $2.399 per gallon, according to GasBuddy. In fact, first-quarter 2016 had the lowest quarterly U.S. average retail price for gasoline since first-quarter 2004’s $1.87-per-gallon average, based on the fuel-price firm’s analysis. Between Jan. 1 and April 1, the national average rose 6.5 CPG, which was the smallest difference between both dates’ averages since 2002.
A slightly greater percentage of gas stations in the United States were selling gasoline for $1.75 per gallon or less at the start of this week, compared to 2.3% of sites this same point a week ago. Once spring refinery maintenance is over in early June, GasBuddy predicts that summer gasoline prices should begin falling to their lowest point in more than a decade.
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