Gas prices soaring, plenty of blame to go around

Drivers are seeing a 30 cent increase in gas prices over the last week.

September 2010 photo/Daniel Christensen

A gas refinery explosion in Toledo a few days ago, a spike in crude oil price and a slowdown on production all are blamed by the analysts.

“What we are seeing this year is a bit of a jump up, perhaps earlier than we are used to …,” noted Patrick Dehaan.

Hopes of stronger economic growth in the U.S. and abroad helped push the U.S. stock market to a five-year high in January and sent crude prices up. When economies expand, more gasoline, diesel and jet fuel are consumed by shippers and travelers.

Some analysts just seem to be looking at the different market.

“Gasoline prices averaged $3.60 per gallon last year, and we think they’ll average between $3.25 and $3.50 per gallon this year,” said Robert Gough, director of content development for the consulting firm Oil Price Information Services. (published in the USA Today article on Wednesday.)

After an increible drop in gas prices around the 2008 Presidential election, the prices have soared to $3 and have been stuck there.

Gas Buddy has a ton of charts and graphs that you can put in the dates for – here’s the last 8 years.