Gas Prices Following Oil Prices Higher

It had to happen sooner or later. With world oil prices rising once again, so are retail gasoline prices.

The national average price of self-serve regular today is $3.352 per gallon, up from $3.269 last Friday, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Survey. That's almost seven cents a gallon more than what motorists were paying a month ago.

The average price of diesel fuel today is $3.840 per gallon, up from $3.824 a week ago.

Oil prices are rising, in large part, because traders are convinced hostilities will eventually break out in the Persian Gulf. Western sanctions against Iran now include reducing oil purchases from that country, and the Iranian government has responded with threats to close the Straits of Hormuz.

Swimming in gas

Meanwhile, the U.S. seems to be swimming in gasoline. The American Petroleum Institute reported this week that stockpiles of refined gasoline rose by 3.38 million barrels last week to 219.1 million barrels.

In an interesting turnabout, the cheapest gas in the nation is now centered in the plains and mountain west states, which once had some of the highest gas prices in the nation. Their prices are now lower than the southeastern states, which traditionally had the country's lowest gas prices. Meanwhile, gas prices have spiked in the last week in the upper Midwest.

The states with the most expensive gas this week are:

• Hawaii ($4.027)
• Alaska ($3.869)
• California ($3.666)
• Connecticut ($3.588)
• New York ($3.587)
• Michigan ($3.488)
• Illinois ($3.462)
• Washington ($3.426)
• Indiana ($3.422)
• Vermont($3.418)

The states with the least expensive gas this week are:

• Utah ($2.947)
• New Mexico ($3.023)
• Wyoming ($3.028)
• Colorado ($3.045)
• Montana ($3.058)
• Idaho ($3.076)
• Missouri ($3.085)
• Oklahoma ($3.092)
• South Carolina ($3.140)
• Kansas ($3.145)