Survey: Gas prices go up by eleven cents

Survey: Gas prices go up by eleven cents

The past two weeks have seen an increase in the price of retail gasoline, nationally. The rise comes despite the fact that crude oil prices have gone down.

According to Lundberg Survey (a national survey of around 7000 gas stations) published on Sunday, one gallon of gas costs on an average, eleven cents higher than what it was towards the end of February. The average price for all the three grades available, has now reached $2.35 a gallon; with the national average price of self-serve being $2.35, of mid-grade $2.45 and of premium grade gasoline being $2.55.

The rise has negated the nine-cent decline of January. “Those five weeks of declines were due largely to our being at the bottom of our gasoline-demand curve,” said Trilby Lundberg, author of the survey.

One would expect gas price to decline, in view of the fact that per gallon cost of crude oil has fell by seven cents since February 24th. But the prices have gone up and this rise can be attributed to increased demand and new government regulations. “"We're leaving our low winter-demand period and entering the spring and summer driving season. With our demand building and those new recipe requirements coming into effect, gas prices will most likely surge much higher,” observed Lundberg. “Some of those regulations are seasonal in nature; they become more severe and more expensive as the weather gets warmer.”

If the present level of demand continues, the prices could increase by another 30 cents towards the peak of summer.

The current prices of gasoline have risen by 38 cents since the last year, said the survey. The gas station exhibiting the lowest price in the survey was that of Newark, New Jersey; where one could get a gallon of self-serve for $2.15. The price was highest at Honolulu, Hawaii where the same grade cost $2.63 per gallon.