COLUMBUS – Gasoline prices in central Ohio are bucking the national trend, falling 8 cents in the last two weeks while prices nationwide climbed 7 cents, according to one survey.
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that prices in her survey shot up 7 cents a gallon over the past two weeks, driven primarily by rising crude oil prices, and she expects prices to continue to rise over the next few weeks as producers switch over to the seasonal blend of fuel, which is slower to evaporate in summer heat, and Americans drive more.
“We have higher-cost spring blends [of gasoline] and we also have our demand building as it always does,” Lundberg said.
Prices in Columbus, however, fell 10 cents since last Monday to $2.40 a gallon, according to a daily survey by the auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and WEX, Inc.
With consumer demand at the highest level on record for March, the auto club says Ohio suffered from the nation’s second-largest month-to-month price increase last week, but the retail price remained unchanged this morning at $2.42.
Prices in Ohio are 29 cents higher than at the same time last year and the nationwide average is 33 cents higher.