COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The cost of gas went above the five dollar mark in Branch County on Monday and one analyst says motorists should not expect improvement at the pump anytime soon.
Another 20 cent spike drove the price at some stations in Coldwater up to an eye popping $5.19 a gallon. Prices as of Monday evening mostly ranged from $4.99 to $5.19 around Branch County with one station in Quincy at $4.92.
It was worse to the south as a couple of stations around Fremont, Indiana were selling gas for $5.25.
Patrick De Haan, who is the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. says “After a blistering week of gas prices jumping in nearly every town, city, state and area possible, more bad news is on the horizon. It now appears not if, but when, we’ll hit that psychologically critical $5 national average. Gasoline inventories continue to decline even with demand softening due to high prices, a culmination of less refining capacity than we had prior to Covid and strong consumption, a situation that doesn’t look to improve drastically anytime soon. Nine states have average gas prices that stand beyond the $5 per gallon mark, with more set to join in the days and weeks ahead. In addition, diesel prices also stand at a record high, a second gut-punch to consumers which pushes prices of most goods higher.”
Gas Buddy reports the national average gas price went up for the seventh straight week, surging 26 cents from a week ago to $4.85 per gallon according to data compiled from more than 11 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.
The national average is up 56 cents from a month ago and $1.81 per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 11.5 cents in the last week and stands at $5.62 per gallon.
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