Gas prices could rise even higher in the Great Lakes region in the coming hours, according to analysts, with Ohio at risk of facing the biggest jump as stations and retailers start adjusting their offers. In a social media post on Thursday night, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, warned of an “additional likelihood of further price increases in the Great Lakes,” with Ohio at “high” risk of facing the largest bump in the region. Wisconsin and Indiana are facing a medium risk of a moderate jump in gas prices, he said, while Michigan and Illinois are at low to medium risk of seeing gas prices go past the $5 per gallon threshold.
These same states, he added, are likely to see a moderate to large jump in diesel prices. I’d look for them to start hitting tomorrow, but timing may vary.” Newsweek contacted De Haan for comment by email on Friday. As of Friday morning, gas prices had reached an average of $4.47 nationwide, according to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), up from $2.98 on February 28, the day the war in Iran started, and from $3.20 a year earlier.
Drivers in Ohio paid a statewide average of $4.53 per gallon, slightly above the national average and up from $3.08 a year earlier. In Wisconsin, drivers paid $4.41 per gallon at the pump, slightly lower than the national average but up from $2.92 a year earlier. In Indiana, gas prices averaged $4.00 per gallon on Friday up from $3.92 on Thursday and $3.09 a year earlier.
The overnight increase has dethroned Indiana from being the cheapest state in the country for gas, an honor now claimed by Texas. Here, drivers paid $3.95 per gallon on Friday. In Michigan, gas prices averaged $4.89 per gallon, up from $4.75 per gallon on Thursday and from $3.21 per gallon a year earlier.
In Illinois, drivers paid an average of $4.85 per gallon, up from $3.42 a year earlier. All these states saw significant overnight gas price hikes between Thursday and Friday, according to AAA. In Illinois and Wisconsin, prices went up by 7 cents; in Indiana, by 8 cents; in Michigan, by 14 cents.
In Ohio, prices increased by a more modest 2 cents. By comparison, gas prices inched up by 3 cents at the national level. In an update on Friday, De Haan warned that these states remained “at risk of gas price increases today.” The analyst raised the risk of a price jump in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana to “elevated.” Gas prices have been rising for months across the U.S. as a result of disruptions to the global oil supply caused by the war in Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
