COLUMBUS – Despite large recent jumps, gas prices in central Ohio are more than 30 cents a gallon below the national average.
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg says her biweekly survey of gas stations showed prices nationwide surged 13 cents a gallon over the past two weeks, but the retail price in Columbus fell 16 cents to $2.53, according to a daily survey from the auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and WEX, Inc.
The price in central Ohio has increased for four consecutive weeks before the decline.
Regional refinery maintenance and the switchover to summer blend gasoline have caused pump prices in the notoriously volatile Great Lakes region to jump as much as 43-cents in the last month in the region and the AAA says more increases are expected this spring.
“The transition to higher-cost summer blend gasoline adds a few cents and, on top of that, we have had a number of different refinery issues around the country that have crimped supply,” Lundberg said.
She says another reason for the spike is an increase in crude oil costs.
Lundberg said Sunday that prices at the pump have jumped 25 cents over the past month and 60 cents over the past 14 weeks, according to her survey, but the AAA reports the statewide average price in Ohio dropped five cents since last week.
The national average price, according to the auto club, is $2.84 a gallon.