Gas Prices Begin Moving Higher Again

For the first time since the second week of May, the average price of gasoline has risen from one week to the next. It may mean that falling prices have bottomed, at least for now.

The national average price of self-serve regular today is $3.594 a gallon, up from $3.550 last Friday, according to AAA's daily Fuel Gauge Survey. The price is down 15 cents in the last month, but is 88 cents higher than at this time a year ago.

The price of diesel fuel is $3.894 a gallon, down from $3.898 in the last week.

The decline in gasoline prices stalled as crude oil prices rallied on world markets in the last week. Despite predictions that oil would fall to between $80 and $90 a barrel, crude has traded just under the $100 a barrel mark.

In an analysis of state gasoline prices, the cost of fuel in states with the highest prices continued to fall. For example, the only two states with average prices above $4 a gallon – Alaska and Hawaii – have moved very close to the $4 mark in recent weeks. But the price is rising in states with the lowest price. In South Carolina, where gas prices are the cheapest in the country, the average price has moved up almost six cents a gallon in the last seven days.

The states with the most expensive gasoline today are:

• Alaska ($4.066)
• Hawaii ($4.030)
• Connecticut ($3.913)
• New York ($3.839)
• Illinois ($3.832)
• Washington, DC ($3.824)
• Washington ($3.779)
• California ($3.767)
• Oregon ($3.750)
• Vermont ($3.689)

The states with the least expensive gasoline today are:

• South Carolina ($3.343)
• Mississippi ($3.412)
• Missouri ($3.433)
• Tennessee ($3.425)
• Alabama ($3.435)
• Arkansas ($3.450)
• Virginia ($3.463)
• Louisiana ($3.463)
• Oklahoma ($3.472)
• Colorado ($3.498)