Gas prices are ticking upward as we head into spring and begin shedding the ice and snow. The national average for a gallon of gas increased to $3.12, rising four cents in the last week, according to AAA.
More refineries are making the seasonal switch to summer-blend gasoline, which is less likely to evaporate in warmer temperatures and is more expensive to produce. The price of crude oil remains below $70 a barrel.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported gasoline demand decreasing to 8.81 barrels per day. Total domestic gasoline supply decreased to 240.6 barrels. Gasoline production increased, however, averaging 9.6 million barrels per day.
The past several weeks, gas prices have been largely steady, apart from a dip during the prime spring break travel time. The rise in price could continue as the weather warms and people venture out, although road-trip season is still a couple of months away.
Should this occur, c-store retailers might find offering special discounts a good method for keeping trips up, especially as consumers are still price conscious due to inflation. Overall, the EIA predicts fuel consumption to decline in the far future, and with an electric vehicle (EV) presence sticking around, many retailers recognize the importance of draws outside of filling up the tank.
AAA’s top 10 most-expensive gasoline markets in the U.S. are California ($4.64), Hawaii ($4.53), Washington ($4.09), Nevada ($3.74), Oregon ($3.73), Alaska ($3.39), Illinois ($3.38), Arizona ($3.34), Idaho ($3.26) and Pennsylvania ($3.22).
The nation’s top 10 least-expensive gasoline markets are Mississippi ($2.66), Oklahoma ($2.69), Kentucky ($2.69), Tennessee ($2.69), Louisiana ($2.73), Alabama ($2.74), Texas ($2.76), Arkansas ($2.76), South Carolina ($2.78) and Kansas ($2.80).
On the EV front, the national average per kilowatt hour of electricity at a public EV charging station stayed the same at 34 cents.
The nation’s top 10 most-expensive states for public charging per kilowatt hour, based on AAA data, are Hawaii (56 cents), West Virginia (46 cents), Montana (45 cents), South Carolina (42 cents), Tennessee (42 cents), Idaho (42 cents), Alaska (41 cents), Kentucky (40 cents), New Hampshire (40 cents) and Louisiana (39 cents).
The nation’s top 10 least-expensive states for public charging per kilowatt hour are Kansas (22 cents), Missouri (25 cents), Nebraska (26 cents), Iowa (26 cents), North Dakota (26 cents), Delaware (27 cents), Michigan (29 cents), Texas (39 cents), Utah (29 cents) and Washington, D.C. (30 cents).
One of the primary determining factors to purchasing an EV for many consumers is convenience, and an established EV infrastructure is needed to provide this. While many retailers are adding charging stations to their forecourts, many others are waiting to pull the trigger until there is greater market demand.
While EV adoption isn’t likely to increase at an exponential rate, years down the line will prove interesting as to how fuel prices are affected.
