April Fool’s Day marks start of climbing gas prices
The party at the pump is over — for now.
Price-tracker GasBuddy.com reported the national average gasoline price jumped 4.2 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.33 per gallon, tracking oil prices that climbed above $50 per barrel for the first time in several weeks.
“We long anticipated seeing gasoline prices beginning to rise en masse in the spring, but uncharacteristically, it took until nearly April Fool’s Day for it to begin,” Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com, said in a release. “Motorists should expect to see a more sustained upward trend at the pump through Memorial Day, but thankfully the seasonal rise could still be less severe than what we’ve seen in prior years.”
The rally at the pump was felt in 46 states, including Maine.
Maine Public reported that, for Maine, the rally an average price rise of 2.1 cents to $2.26 per gallon last week. And the cost of gas in Maine by mid-summer could climb another 45 cents per gallon.
American Automobile Association’s Portland-based Northern New England division spokesperson Pat Moody told Maine Public the increases are due largely to the oil industry's seasonal changeover from winter to summer fuel blends, and a decrease in oil production among members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
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