(The Center Square) – For the second week in a row, residents of the Evergreen State have been hit with a significant price spike at the gas pump.
On Tuesday, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded was sitting at $5.32 statewide with some areas in the western portion of Washington seeing prices nearing $5.60, according to AAA data. That was up from $5.02 one week ago.
Contributing to this upward trend on the west coast are ongoing supply chain and maintenance issues in the petrochemical industry.
“At least six California refineries are undergoing maintenance, and there is limited pipeline supply to the West Coast from locations east of the Rockies.” AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said in a statement.
This continuation of the trend from weeks prior places Washington firmly in the top ten most expensive markets for fuel cost nationwide, nestled comfortably between Alaska and Hawaii in fifth overall.
Compared with the national average increasing from $3.74 a week ago to only $3.80 this week, a mere 6 cents per gallon, most Washington residents will be paying five times that in increases to fuel up. For most in the Puget Sound region, that number is likely to be even higher.
Concerns also loom large with OPEC and its allies, including Russia, set to meet Wednesday Oct. 5th in Vienna. Market watchers expect an announcement of curtailed production, which would cause crude prices to rise even further.
On top of all of these concerns state residents have a new cap-and-trade tax to look forward to which, as previously reported by The Center Square, would drive fuel costs an estimated 46 cents per gallon higher. This on top of Washington’s current rate of 49.4 cents per gallon of state tax.
With current prices and trends, Washington commuters could be looking at $6.00 per gallon or more come the new year.
