Average retail gasoline prices in Minnesota have risen 5 cents in the past week, averaging $3.07 per gallon Thursday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 2,856 gas outlets in Minnesota. This compares with the national average that has not moved in the last week to $3.26 per gallon, according to gasoline price website MinnesotaGasPrices.com.
Prices in International Falls Thursday ranged from $3.13 to $3.34 per gallon, according to the website.
Including the change in gas prices in Minnesota during the past week, prices Sunday were 12.9 cents per gallon lower compared to the same day one year ago and are 20.1 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 19.1 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 1.3 cents per gallon higher than this day one year ago.
“With just hours to go before Christmas, it appears that the national average may set a new all-time record high, barely edging out 2011 as the most expensive average for gasoline on Christmas Day,” said GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan in a release Monday. “The bad news likely won’t stop there — gasoline prices in six out of the last seven years have increased between Christmas Day and Jan. 15 of the following year. If the national average rises to at least $3.26 per gallon before New Years Day, it will mark the highest start for gas prices ever on the first day of the year,” 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.
