Gasoline prices are rising. But it shouldn’t mean much for the average consumer’s wallet.
The federal government says gasoline, diesel and even heating oil prices are increasing and will likely continue to do so through the spring. But they will max out at prices that are between 45 and 75 cents lower than they were just a year ago.
The average price of a gallon of gas increased 5 cents to $2.01 on Monday, the Energy Information Administration said. It is the first time the price has been higher than $2 since Jan. 4. However it’s still 45 cents cheaper than a year ago.
The West Coast saw the biggest bump in prices. California and other states on the coast have historically some of the highest fuel prices on the continent. West Coast prices rose 9 cents to $2.48 per gallon, which is more than 50 cents higher than the rest of the U.S.
The Gulf Coast prices rose 6 cents, but the average price there is much lower at $1.81 per gallon. The East Coast price increased 5 cents to $1.94 per gallon, while the Rocky Mountain price rose about 4 cents to $1.90 per gallon, and the Midwest price rose one penny to $1.94 per gallon.
The average diesel price rose 2 cents from the previous week, to $2.12 per gallon. But that’s still 75 cents lower from a year ago, according to the agency, the Energy Department’s independent statistics arm.
Private organizations that track gasoline prices said the price at self-service stations climbed above $2 on Friday at the outset of Easter weekend. One reason for the bump was an Energy Information Administration inventory report issued Thursday afternoon that said fuel inventories dipped a little.
Other reports out from the EIA earlier in the week underscore that refineries are beginning to shut down for planned maintenance ahead of the summer fueling season. But the EIA projects that the refinery outages for the first half of 2016 are expected to have negligible effects on the price of gasoline going into the summer and therefore will not likely cause supply problems.
