After weeks of rising prices, gas prices remained steady last week: AAA
The reopening of a large BP-Whitney refinery in Indiana could potentially have contributed to the pause of rising gas prices.
Gas prices and demand didn't fluctuate last week. (iStock)
After a sharp spike upwards last week, the average national gas price held steady this week at $3.27, a AAA report found.
Demand for gas also held steady, according to information from the Energy Information Administration. It remained flat at 8.2 million barrels per day.
Gas prices were stagnant after an announcement that the BP-Whiting refinery in Indiana would reopen soon. The refinery has been closed since early February due to a power outage.
"Old man winter is shuffling toward the exit, and with milder weather and longer days looming, the seasonal rise in gas prices is primed to begin," said Andrew Gross, AAA's spokesperson. "But it will probably be a slow, wobbly start to rising prices."
The national average price of gas is still 20 cents higher than last month but has gone down by 12 cents since this time last year.
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Certain states saw bigger swings in prices
Although prices remained largely unchanged last week, some states still saw large changes in prices. These 10 states saw the biggest variations:
- Utah (+17 cents)
- South Dakota (+11 cents)
- Idaho (+11 cents)
- Wyoming (+8 cents)
- Nebraska (+8 cents)
- Montana (+8 cents)
- Iowa (+8 cents)
- Ohio (−8 cents)
- New Mexico (−7 cents)
- Texas (−6 cents)
The most expensive markets for gas in the country include the following 10 states:
- Hawaii ($4.70)
- California ($4.63)
- Washington ($3.92)
- Nevada ($3.91)
- Oregon ($3.60)
- Pennsylvania ($3.53)
- Illinois ($3.51)
- Alaska ($3.46)
- Washington, DC ($3.41)
- Arizona ($3.36)
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Biden Administration set to slow electric vehicle switch
Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed limits on tailpipe emissions that would increase the number of electric vehicles produced.
The new regulations would mean 67% of new car and truck sales would be all-electric by 2032. The Biden Administration originally supported these proposals, but the Administration has since backtracked slightly, a Reuters article reported.
While the official Administration plans aren’t set to be released until early spring, multiple sources inside the White House said the plan is to give manufacturers more time to roll out vehicles that abide by the EPA rules.
"Give the market and supply chains a chance to catch up, maintain a customer’s ability to choose, let more public charging come online, let the industrial credits and Inflation Reduction Act do their thing and impact the industrial shift," said John Bozzella, the CEO of Alliance for Automotive Innovation.
The Administration has heard from automakers who need more time to build charging stations and implement strategies to make electric vehicles more affordable. Additionally, labor unions have requested more time to unionize electric car plants.
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