Gasoline prices rose for the eighth straight week, according to a Monday GasBuddy newsletter, cautioning that the United States is just one supply jolt away from even higher prices at the pump.
Gas prices rose 15.7 cents from one week ago, to $5.01 per gallon today. The national average compared to a month ago is 57.1 cents higher, and $1.94 higher from a year ago. Diesel prices have also increased, to $5.77 per gallon-a 13.8 cent rise over last week.
"For the first time ever, last week saw the national average reaching the $5 per gallon mark as nearly every one of the nation's 50 states saw prices jump. For now, the upward momentum may slow down, but we are still just one potential jolt to supply away from heading even higher," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. "Gasoline demand, while rising seasonally, is still well below previous records, but remains impressive with prices in all states at record levels. Should the rise in price finally start to slow demand's rise, we could see some breathing room, but for now, it seems like Americans are proving resilient to record highs."
While gasoline prices rose, crude oil prices dipped on Monday as inflation rates worried the market. At 10:30 a.m., ET, WTI was trading down 1.26% on the day at $119.20.
U.S. retail gasoline demand rose last week 2.7% from the prior week, with PADD 3 seeing the largest gain at 4.8%, according to GasBuddy.
Americans are now spending $730 million more every day on gasoline than they were a year ago, De Haan tweeted on Sunday.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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Julianne Geiger is a veteran editor, writer and researcher for Oilprice.com, and a member of the Creative Professionals Networking Group. More