Gas Prices On The Rise Again

The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline reached $3.56 on Sunday, even as the price of crude oil fell after last week's earthquake in Japan, according to the latest survey by AAA.

The average price for regular is up six cents from a week ago and 77 cents from a year ago. In Maryland, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded was $3.55 on Sunday, up seven cents from a week ago and 79 cents from a year ago.

After almost hitting $107 a barrel early in the week, crude oil prices gradually declined as the week progressed, especially following the 8.9 magnitude earthquake that rocked Japan (the world’s third-largest oil consumer) on Friday morning, when crude dropped nearly $3 to less than $100 a barrel. At Friday’s close, crude oil settled at $101.16, down for the first time in four weeks.

However, as a result of continued unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, the U.S. Energy Information Administration has revised its short-term energy outlook. The EIA  expects the retail price for regular-grade gasoline to average $3.56 a gallon in 2011, 77 cents higher than the 2010 average and 40 cents higher than the previous forecast.  Lastly, the EIA projects gasoline prices to average $3.70 a gallon during the peak driving season (April through September).

Here is the cheapest gas in the Essex-Middle River area, according to MarylandGasPrices.com: