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You may have noticed that you spend more to fill your car’s gas tank.
Don’t be surprised if the price keeps ticking higher.
The national average cost for a gallon of gas has risen about 18 cents in the past two weeks, following the diminished oil refining capacity during the extreme Texas cold, GasBuddy said. Now a major contributor will be rising demand amid lower oil production and higher crude oil prices, which account for more than half the gas price.
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The current national average for a gallon of unleaded lead is $ 2.74. That’s $ 1 more than the $ 1.74 tallied in April 2020, when the pandemic first took hold and demand plummeted, data from GasBuddy shows. The states with the lowest average prices are Mississippi ($ 2.35), Louisiana ($ 2.37), and Texas ($ 2.39), while the states with the highest averages are California $ (3.67), Hawaii ($ 3.41) and Washington ($ 3.08).
Cost per gallon also tends to increase in the spring as demand increases and stations switch to cleaner, more environmentally friendly gas for the summer.
There are ways to save money on gas – in addition to things like sticking to the speed limit and avoiding aggressive driving – that can translate into hundreds of dollars a year.
For starters, shop around. Depending on where you live, there can be large price fluctuations between gas stations. And even if the difference in price per gallon is maybe just a few cents, it still makes sense.
“Too many drivers just pull up to the nearest pump and end up paying too much,” says Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
There can also be wide price differences from one state to another. For example, a gas station in Arizona is $ 1 less than a competitor across the California state line, De Haan said. (The tax applied per gallon in California is 82 cents and Arizona’s is 37 cents.)
In addition, there are apps – including GasBuddy, Gas Guru, and AAA TripTik – you can use to find the best prices along your route.
It’s also worth checking out loyalty programs, which many major chains have. They are generally free and can offer discounts of cents per gallon, De Haan said.
However, credit cards that offer discounts on gas purchases may not be the best option unless you routinely pay for the balance of the card.
“If you don’t pay off your bill, you end up giving the bank more money than the discount is worth,” says De Haan. “The cards work when you pay them off, but not when you keep track of the balance from month to month.”