COLUMBUS – Higher oil prices are driving up the prices motorists pay at the gas pump in central Ohio and analysts predict they won’t come back down anytime soon.
The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in Columbus Monday morning was $2.41, up 31 cents since one month ago and 54 cents from the price on the same day in 2016, according to a daily survey from the auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and WEX, Inc.
The price hike mostly results from the gasoline market catching up with rising crude oil costs, industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said.
The price of crude oil fell on Friday but remains above $53.50 a barrel in the wake of a promise by oil-producing countries to cut productions at the first of the year.
Analysts have predicted the average price of gasoline nationwide would remain about 50 cents higher than the 2016 price, signaling that pump prices would flirt with the $3-a-galon mark at some point this year.
The highest price in central Ohio last year was approximately $2.60.