Rhode Island Gas Prices See Another Surge, Up 10 Cents This Week

PROVIDENCE, RI — Gas prices continued to skyrocket last week, rising by double digits from the week before. In the past week, the average price per gallon surged by 10 cents, rising to $3.36 per gallon.

"With the U.S. economy slowly recovering from the depths of the pandemic, demand for gas is robust, but the supply is tight," said Lloyd Albert, a spokesperson for AAA Northeast. "We haven’t seen prices this high since September of 2014."

Crude oil prices are currently high, which pushes the pricer per gallon as demand rises. Because global oil production is still lower than it was before the coronavirus pandemic hit, supply cannot keep up with demand. According to the Energy Information Administration, oil stocks in the U.S. fell by 5.4 million barrels to 217.7 million last week, even as demand rose from 9.19 million barrels per day to 9.63 million.

The national average price per gallon is just two cents higher than Rhode Island's, currently at $3.38. Massachusetts is one cent lower than Rhode Island, on average, at $3.35 per gallon, while Connecticut is higher than the national average, at $3.50.