Average retail gasoline prices in Minnesota have risen 2.1 cents in the past week, averaging $3.49 per gallon Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 2,856 gas outlets in Minnesota. This compares with the national average that has decreased 1.6 cents per gallon in the last week to to $3.49, according to gasoline price website MinnesotaGasPrices.com.
Including the change in gas prices in Minnesota during the past week, prices Sunday were 15.9 cents per gallon lower compared to the same day one year ago and are 5.8 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 13.3 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 32.2 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.
“The party at the pump with the seasonally lower prices may be temporarily over,” said GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan. “We’ve seen situations unfold that have caused a reversal in the downward trend, and those situations are multiplying across portions of the U.S. and Canada. Along the West Coast, supply has grown tight and will lead to likely increases, and in the Great Lakes prices may spike 10-20 cents per gallon in the next two days in over a half dozen states as a result of a similar situation. Refineries are finishing what was an extensive maintenance season and with plant restarts commencing, problems may develop, putting pressure on prices,” 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.
