NY gasoline prices inch up, but summer outlook remains good

AAA released information on current gas prices Monday, just as schools are wrapping up their academic years and American families are heading out for summer vacation.

Statewide, the average price of regular gas is $2.46 per gallon, up 0.4 cents a gallon from a week ago.

Roughly 3,500 gas stations nationwide are still offering gasoline below $2 a gallon today, mainly in South Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas, according to GasBuddy.

But despite Long Island’s gas prices being 7 cents higher than the national average – $2.45 per gallon compared to $2.38 nationally – the area has dodged significant gas price hikes experienced elsewhere in the country. The cheapest gas is $2.59 at the Marathon at Springfield-Xenia Road near Sparrow Road. The price was $2.05 four weeks ago and $2.55 a year ago.

Despite the higher summer costs, fuel prices are still well below past years.

A $1-per-barrel change in the price of crude oil can increase gas prices by 2.4 cents per gallon.

Prices at the pump are moving lower, but face upward pressure due to increased oil prices, AAA reports. That’s an improvement over January’s bottom-out price of $27 a barrel, but not quite near the $60 a barrel seen last June, when Pittsburgh gasoline prices almost hit $3 a gallon. “Average gas prices in MI are up 50 cents in the last month, followed by Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, who have seen a jump of over 30 cents in a month”.