Average retail gasoline prices in Minnesota have fallen 2.6 cents in the past week, averaging $3.33 per gallon Thursday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 2,856 gas outlets in Minnesota. This compares with the national average that has fallen 0.5 cents per gallon in the last week to $3.49 per gallon, according to gasoline price website MinnesotaGasPrices.com.
Prices in International Falls Sunday averaged $3.49 per gallon, according to the website.
Including the change in gas prices in Minnesota during the past week, prices Sunday were 14.7 cents per gallon lower compared to the same day one year ago and are 39.3 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 14.4 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 7.8 cents per gallon higher than this day one year ago.
"After blaming higher gasoline prices on refineries for much of the early spring and summer, it now seems that higher oil prices may be to blame for an expected up tick in the national average," said GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan. "Oil prices have silently been tracking higher after tension in Egypt started to impact the market, driving oil prices higher. In turn, gasoline prices have begun to stage a rally as well. Oil closed last week at its highest level in over a year, and it may lead to a gentler rally in retail gas price than what we saw earlier this year, but a rally none the less," DeHaan said.
GasBuddy operates MinnesotaGasPrices.com and over 250 similar websites that track gasoline prices at more than 140,000 gasoline stations in the United States and Canada.
