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After plummeting for 11 weeks, gas prices are inching back up, a survey finds
Expect them to jump a bit more in the coming days, the publisher says
The highest average in the survey is in Long Island; the lowest is in Salt Lake City
After plummeting for three months, gas prices are working their way back up, according to a survey published Sunday.
The average price of a gallon of regular is $3.32, up more than 6 cents from three weeks earlier, the Lundberg Survey found.
Over 11 weeks between October and late December, the average dropped 58 cents a gallon.
Crude oil prices have jumped, triggering higher prices at the pump, said publisher Trilby Lundberg.
“Refiners have passed through only about half of the price hike that they received. So if crude oil prices stay approximately where they are, we will see a few more cents at the pump – maybe 5 or 6 cents (per gallon) in the coming days.”
Demand is generally lowest in January, so it is not expected to be a factor pushing up gas prices any time soon.
The current price is about 3 cents lower than it was a year ago.
The Lundberg Survey tabulates prices at thousands of gas stations nationwide.
The highest average found in the latest survey was in New York’s Long Island, at $3.75 per gallon. The lowest was in Salt Lake City, at $2.76.
Taxes are part of what causes such difference in prices in different areas.
Here are the latest averages in some other cities:
Boston - $3.53
Atlanta - $3.35
Birmingham, Alabama - $3.17
Chicago - $3.45
El Paso, Texas - $2.99
Tulsa, Oklahoma - $2.92
Tucson, Arizona - $2.85
Seattle - $3.43
Los Angeles - $3.65