Average Gas Prices Still on the Rise Nationwide

Filling up just got more expensive. (foxbusiness.com)

I might be allowing my son’s decision to select an older muscle car as his first ride to impact my thoughts, but I’m finding myself spending way too many hours imagining how expensive gasoline will be with the limited fuel economy his car will return.

For him, he says he’s looking for a car with soul. For me, I’m just looking at the expenses involved. The car insurance quotes have been great, but the thought of filling up a 20 gallon tank once a week or more isn’t quite the same.

Especially that even as crude oil prices have managed to stayed low, the price motorists have to shell out for gasoline has continue to rise, reversing the previous trend where gas prices fell while the cost of crude rose in the last month of 2011.

And the rise in gasoline has continued over the last two weeks, according to the Lundberg Survey. The survey uses prices at approximately 2,500 gasoline stations – lower 48 only, so Alaska and Hawaii don’t impact the results – to track the average cost of a gallon of gas in the United States.

So what is the average cost of a gallon of gasoline in the United States? $3.39 a gallon, which is a gain of almost 3.5 cents over the last two weeks. Lundberg cites the volatility and uncertain situation in the Persian Gulf as a primary reason for the current rise.

They also expect that Americans could see gasoline rise another 5 cents a gallon within the next few weeks, regardless of any extraneous factors.

How much are you paying for a gallon of gasoline?