Average retail gasoline prices in Minnesota have risen 17.1 cents in the past week, averaging $2.40 per gallon Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 2,856 gas outlets in Minnesota. This compares with the national average that has increased 12 cents in the last week to $2.42 per gallon, according to gasoline price website MinnesotaGasPrices.com.
Regular gas prices in International Falls, according to the site, ranged from $2.37 to $2.59 per gallon this week.
Including the change in gas prices in Minnesota during the past week, prices Sunday were 105.6 cents per gallon lower compared to the same day one year ago and are 41.5 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has increased 37.4 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 103.8 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.
“The spring spike has hit pumps across the nation, and it certainly has motorists wonder what in the heck is going on,” said Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst. “New records were broken last week in California as prices spiked at their fastest pace ever, even faster than when Chevron’s sprawling Richmond, Cali. refinery caught fire. Meanwhile every single state- all 50 of them- saw a price increase in the last week, with a common theme behind the increases: refinery this, refinery that,” he said.
DeHaan noted that In the last two weeks, a rash of refinery problems has pushed up wholesale prices significantly: an explosion at a California refinery, unexpected cold-related shut downs along the East Coast and Great Lakes, and maintenance that’s beginning at other refineries across the country. If that wasn’t enough, throw in the transition to cleaner, more costly blends of gasoline and declining gasoline inventories, and it’s a bleak picture.
DeHaan said while the massive spikes on the West Coast will likely slow over the next week, “increases will persist country wide, and the general upward trend will likely remain in place for 6-8 more weeks before motorists see declining prices ahead of Memorial Day weekend as maintenance work wraps up and the transition to summer gasoline concludes.”
GasBuddy.com is a tool to help motorists save money at the pump by collecting gas price data and displaying it on websites and on a free smartphone app that has been downloaded over 37 million times. The site operates MinnesotaGasPrices.com and more than 250 similar websites that track gasoline prices at more than 140,000 gasoline stations in the United States and Canada.
