Fuel prices have gone up – first time in 13 weeks

The old saw says, “All good things got to come to an end.” Sad to say, the constantly lower price of motor fuel has evidently come to its end. Motor fuel analysts at GasBuddy say gas prices have gone up for the first time since mid-September.

Gas prices have gone up nearly 3 cents

The average U.S. pump price for gasoline hit $3.07—up 2.9 cents in just a week. GasBuddy drew their stats from more that 12 million price reports over 150,000 stations across the U.S. While the U.S. average is down nearly 14 cents in one month, it is still 1.8 cents more a gallon than a year ago.

What about diesel, a favored fuel among some towable rig users and big pusher Class A units? Sad to say, diesel followed suit, but on a smaller scale. Diesel rose less than a penny—six/tenths of a cent—now hitting $4.00. Still, the good news for “oil burners” is that the price is still 68 cents a gallon less than a year ago.

What’s behind the rise?

“After 13 straight weeks of decline, average gasoline prices have edged higher due to optimistic comments from the Fed on cutting interest rates in 2024, coupled with Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, boosting concerns of a disruption to global shipping, including oil shipments,” said Patrick De Haan. De Haan is head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

Still, the GasBuddy number cruncher says there might be some good news. “For now, the price of gasoline has already jumped but could ease slightly this week ahead of the New Year. For now, I’m optimistic that we may still have a chance of seeing the first $2.99 national average since 2021 sometime before spring arrives. We’ll have the full details on what we expect for gasoline and diesel prices in 2024 later this week. Hopefully, motorists will be able to celebrate a New Year with good news at the pump!”

Highs and lows across the US

The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.34 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.52 per gallon. Making that happen? The states with the lowest average prices: Oklahoma ($2.60), Mississippi ($2.64), and Texas ($2.65). Meanwhile, the states with the highest average prices were: Hawaii ($4.61), California ($4.54), and Washington ($4.07).

Pumping into a similar vein, diesel prices at the top 10% of stations in the country average $5.08 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $3.33 per gallon. Here’s who to thank for the numbers. The states with the lowest average diesel prices: Texas ($3.46), Oklahoma ($3.54), and Mississippi ($3.59). And the states with the highest average diesel prices? Hawaii ($5.56), California ($5.44), and Washington ($4.94).

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