Gas prices are up another five cents in Massachusetts this week
The price at the pump continues to increase according to this week’s gas price data from AAA Northeast issued on March 8, 2021. The average gas prices increased five cents from $2.64 last week to an average of $2.69 per gallon. Prices this week are 25 cents higher than a month ago in February ($2.44) and 26 cents higher than a year ago. Each week, AAA Northeast conducts a survey on fuel prices, searching the average gas prices by Regular, Plus, Premium, and Diesel, on National State, as well as Metro levels.
Fast Facts from this week’s survey:
- Current national average to be 5 cents higher than last week ($2.72), averaging $2.77 a gallon
- Today’s national average price is 31 cents higher than a month ago ($2.46), and 39 cents higher than this day last year ($2.38).
While Massachusetts consumers have seen a steep increase in the cost of gas, AAA Northeast notes that the average gas price is 8 cents lower than the national average. AAA Northeast notes that pump prices are continuing to rise due to an all-time low of refinery utilization. As a result, crude oil prices have “surged” more than $2 dollars a barrel, bringing the total cost to $66 a barrel as of last Friday. This marks the highest price for crude oil in almost two years.
The AAA Northeast added that the jump in crude oil could also be attributed to the “surprise statement” issued by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ and their allies’, collectively known as OPEC+, to minimally increase production in April.
“With crude oil prices back on the rise, we could see the national average climb towards $2.90 this spring with some relief by early summer,” said Mary Maguire, AAA Northeast Director of Public and Government Affairs. “The last time we saw the national average flirt with $3 was nearly three years ago in May 2018. At that time, crude was averaging about $71 per barrel.”
