COLUMBUS – Gas prices in Central Ohio rose for the fourth straight week to their highest level since June 21.
The average retail price of a gallon of regular gas in Columbus Tuesday morning was $2.45, according to a daily survey from the auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and WEX, Inc.
The price has increased by 44 cents since Thanksgiving, mirroring a long upward trend nationally. Retail averages have increased 28 of the past 30 days across the country, AAA analysts said.
BP last week shut down a 70,000-barrel-per-day reformer unit at its 430,000-barrel-per-day Whiting, Ind., refinery, the region’s largest, according to reports from OPIS. The outage was only expected to last a few days but will have an impact on supplies in the region, auto club analysts said.
Ohio and four other states in the Great Lakes region topped the list of the largest weekly increases in the nation, with the price going up by 9 cents in Ohio since last Tuesday to $2.38 a gallon.
Retail prices in Ohio are affected by wholesale prices on the famously sensitive Chicago Board of Trade.
The national average price was $2.29 Tuesday.