Just when you thought gas prices were reasonable, they have started to rise.
The average price for a gallon of self-service regular in Baltimore rose 1 cent on Thursday to $2.20 per gallon from $2.19 per gallon on Wednesday, according to Towson-based AAA Mid-Atlantic.
That may not sound like much, but Thursday?s price is up 10 cents from a month ago.
However, Baltimore?s average pump price on Thursday is far from Sept. 6, 2005, when it peaked for the year at $3.31 per gallon.
AAA Mid-Atlantic blamed unrest in the Middle East and forecasts for colder temperatures across the country as the root for the rise in pump prices.
“Anytime there is an escalation in tension and violence in the Middle East, the oil markets tend to experience trepidation and that can filter down to gasoline consumers here in the United States,” said Ragina C. Averella, manager of public and government affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic.
“Colder temperatures, domestically, generate an increase in demand for heating oil. So, those two factors have created an unfavorable environment for a decrease in gasoline prices in the near future have emerged as factors in the upswing of prices this week,” she said.
In Maryland, the average price of self-service regular gasoline on Thursday was $2.22 per gallon, up from $2.21 per gallon on Wednesday, according to AAA?s Daily Fuel Gauge Report.
The national average price of service regular rose a penny to $2.25 per gallon on Thursday, compared to $2.24 per gallon on Wednesday.
The most expensive gas price was in Hawaii, where motorists are paying an average of $2.83 per gallon. Oklahoma motorists enjoyed the lowest gas prices, at an average of $2.09 per gallon of self-service regular.
