Rising Crude Prices, Switch to Summer Blends Leads to Higher Prices at the Pump

Rising crude oil prices and the switch over to more expensive summer-blend gasoline kept the average price for regular unleaded gasoline more than $3.50 for the fourth straight week, according to the latest survey by AAA.

Through Sunday, the national average for regular unleaded was $3.65, compared to $3.58 last week and $2.82 a year ago. In Maryland, the average price was $3.63, up six cents from a week ago and 82 cents from a year ago. According to AAA, gas prices remain 49 cents below the all-time high of $4.11 a gallon set in July 2008.

Continued fighting in Libya and fading hopes that oil flow from the embattled country would resume again anytime soon, more scheduled protests in the Middle East and North Africa region, and a weak U.S. dollar were all contributing factors to crude’s late-week rally. At Friday’s close, crude settled at $107.94, up nearly 2.5 percent on the week and more than 18 percent during the first quarter of 2011.

 “April is typically the beginning of the peak driving season (and continues through September), which generally means higher prices at the pumps as gas stations begin to switch over from winter-blend to summer-blend gasoline,” said AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman Ragina C. Averella in a statement. 

“This week’s six cent per gallon gas price increase nationally can be attributed to the switch over, in addition to the continued unrest in Libya driving up crude oil prices. Volatile international unrest will likely continue to push gasoline higher in the coming weeks, to where analysts say prices will go as high as $3.75 this month.”

Here are the cheapest gas prices available in the Essex-Middle River area, according to MarylandGasPrices.com.