Local gas prices increase from last week

VW independent/submitted information

The low gasoline price in Van Wert was up a dime from last week’s low price of $2.49, but all Van Wert gas prices remain at least a penny lower than the state average.

The low price in Van Wert of $2.59 a gallon was shared by six stations: Murphy USA in the Towne Center shopping center, the Pak-A-Sak Marathon stations on North Washington and South Shannon, the Shell and Casey’s General Store stations on South Washington, and the Lassus Handy Dandy station on North Washington.

The other three stations in town were at $2.69 a gallon. Those include the Brookside Marathon station on West Main Street, and the One Stop Shop and Short Stop Sunoco stations on North Washington and East Main Street, respectively.

Ohio gas prices have risen 3.7 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.70 per gallon on Monday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 5,345 stations. Gas prices in Ohio are 29.8 cents per gallon higher than a month ago, yet stand 10.8 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.
According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Ohio is priced at $2.36  per gallon today, while the most expensive is $2.99 per gallon, a difference of 63 cents per gallon. The cheapest price in the entire country today stands at $1.82 per gallon, while the most expensive is $5.29 per gallon, a difference of $3.47 per gallon. 

The national average price of gasoline has risen 7.4 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.83 per gallon on Monday. The national average is up 28.7 cents per gallon from a month ago, yet stands 12.2 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

“The national average gas price has now risen for the ninth straight week, adding 57 cents a gallon in that time and now costing Americans about $200 million more per day than it did to start the year,” said Dan McTeague, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. “The effect of rising prices isn’t about to let up as a spate of refinery outages on the West Coast and in California has given way to a tightening of summer blended gasoline in advance of the summer driving season set to kick in in the weeks ahead. 

“Even with early signs of markets reaching their heights for California-spec fuel, the damage has been done and gas prices are still playing catch up to the highs of April,” McTeague added. “With California pump prices now firmly over $4 a gallon, the march to $4.15 may be attained in the weeks ahead before any relief, while the rest of the nation faces the prospect of $3 a gallon by month’s end.”