Fuel Prices Approach Four-Year Highs
If you’ve noticed it’s costing more to fill up at the pump recently, it’s not an illusion. The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States is approaching a four-year high with no sign of relenting. The cost of diesel fuel is also up substantially.
At $2.866 per gallon for unleaded, what drivers are paying is on average 30 cents higher than in the same period last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The sharp increase is largely due to the rising price of oil, which is hovering around a four-year high thanks to the imminent loss of Iranian supplied oil as a result of U.S. sanctions.
Prices were up in every region of the United States, although the increase was less on the East Coast, where prices are up by 20 cents over last year, versus the Rocky Mountain region and the West Coast, where prices are up by an average of 43 cents.
The cost of a gallon of diesel fuel is up by an average 52 cents over the same period last year. The price per gallon is only $3.056 in the Gulf Coast Region, while one gallon costs $3.979 in California.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)