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Gas Prices Surge More than 25-cents in Two Weeks

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By Heather VacLav

Story Created: Feb 15, 2013 at 4:57 PM CDT

Story Updated: Feb 15, 2013 at 9:59 PM CDT

Summer may be several months down the road, but gas prices are starting to spike early. Nationwide, the cost of regular unleaded gas has surged 34-cents a gallon since January 18th.

AAA says this early bump in prices is because refineries are switching to their summer blends earlier than usual.

Over the past four weeks, the national average of regular gas has gone up every day.
Economists say the jump is a result of a combination of factors. First, it costs more money while refineries shut down to switch to summer blends. The jump also stems from an increase in the price of crude oil, plus refinery outages last month both in the U.S. and Europe.

In Montgomery, there's at least a quarter difference between gallons of regular unleaded gas around town.

According to GasBuddy.com, the cheapest gallon costs at $3.33 at Raceway on Eastern Boulevard, and the most expensive tops out at $3.59 at Chevron on Zelda Road.

"It's getting ridiculous for people who are used to paying $20, $30 and now we're paying $40 or $50 to fill up our cars," said Derek Landers, as he filled up his tank to drive home to Atlanta.

"That quarter difference, as painful as it is, gallon to gallon to gallon, after a while you just get used to it, and expect to see it unfortunately," Russell Boyd of Montgomery said.

But the worst isn't over yet, the Energy Department predicts gas to jump another 30-cents by May.

According to the Lundberg Survey, Billings, Montana has the nation's lowest average price for gas at $3.05, Los Angeles has the highest at $4.10.

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