Gas prices vary widely throughout city

VW independent/submitted information

The low gasoline price in Van Wert has remained the same for the past two weeks, with the price at the Murphy USA station the same as two weeks ago at $2.359 a gallon. The two Pak-A-Sak Marathon stations are selling unleaded gasoline at $2.369 a gallon, as are the One Stop Shop in the 200 block of North Washington Street and the Shell station on South Washington Street.

From there, prices increase 13 cents a gallon, with three stations the Marathon station at Brookside convenience store at 1301 W. Main St., Lassus Handy Dandy on North Washington, and the Short Stop, 714 E. Main St. all with gasoline selling at $2.499 a gallon.

Average retail gasoline prices in Ohio have risen 5.1 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.48 per gallon on Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 5,345 gas outlets in Ohio. This compares with the national average, which has increased 3.5 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.52 per gallon, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.

Including the change in gas prices in Ohio during the past week, prices Sunday were 23.8 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago and are 18.9 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has increased 9 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 18.7 cents per gallon higher than this day one year ago.

“With oil prices rallying to their highest level since 2014, it’s no surprise that gasoline prices continue to show frustrating strength for this time of year,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “While winter is usually a time for modest declines at the pump, this year has seen anything but. While two years ago areas of the country flirted with sub-$1 gas prices, we now see most areas more than double that. “One bright spot however, is that gasoline production remains very strong at a time of year when it tends to be weak, and that could open the door for some larger discounts in the weeks ahead as refiners begin to move winter gasoline out of inventories to prepare for the transition to cleaner burning gasoline,” DeHaan added. “The window is relatively small and closes shortly after Valentine’s Day, so don’t expect much improvement before the annual spring surge begins.”