A customer gasses up in Naperville earlier this month. (Chuck Berman/ Chicago Tribune)
By Ameet Sachdev | Average prices at Chicago gas pumps cracked $3 a gallon on Friday, and motorists better get used to paying that much.
Chicago gas prices have increased more than 11 cents in the past week, and 9 cents statewide, according to AAA.
Prices typically go up this time of year across the country on
anticipation that demand will rise as spring arrives. But the 3.8
percent jump this week in Chicago and the 1.6 percent bump in Illinois
is unusual and has even caught fuel analysts off guard.
AAA spokeswoman Beth Mosher said wholesale gas prices in the Midwest suddenly increased this week and that in turn has caused retail prices to rise. But she could not explain why only Midwest wholesale prices have gone up.
“Normally when we see gas prices go up like this we can attribute the rise to a refinery being out or something,” Mosher said. “But this has us scratching our heads a little bit.”
Chicago prices are higher than the rest of the state because of higher taxes. The average price in Illinois for a gallon of regular gas Friday was $2.94, up nearly 5 cents from Thursday.
Don’t expect prices to come down anytime soon as retailers switch to more expensive summer fuel blends later this spring. Historical national price data going back ten years to the year 2000 shows prices have increased on average roughly 13 percent between March 1st and April 30th, according to AAA.
Prices have been steadily creeping up from a year ago due to higher oil prices. Last week the U.S. Energy Department predicted that oil prices would average $80 a barrel this spring. . Last year, oil prices averaged about $62, trading in a range between $33.98 and $82.66.
The average price nationwide is $2.81, up about 3 cents from a week ago, and 87 cents higher than a year ago.
In Chicago, average gas prices are nearly $1 higher than a year ago.
It’s enough for families to take notice, economists say. Gasoline accounts for about 4 percent of the typical family’s budget. But consumers tend to pay the increase at the pump instead of driving less. That leaves less to spend on clothing and other discretionary purchases.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
Matt-you are spot on. I said that exact thing twice yesterday. Please see my March 20 12:25am entry AND March 20 8:48pm entry. My point to navyflier is that as we are in America, and buying with $USD, there is no cost fluctuation because of the currency rates. The price will rise and fall according to many factors but what we pay in $USD is not adjusted for currency differentials.
Matt-In your example if the Euro become 10% stronger than the dollar, they can buy 10% more oil per Euro. They will pay .90 EUD/unit of oil, we will pay $1.00 USD/unit of oil. You’re saying that the price will go up due to scarcity-that is supply and demand not currency valuation. If the scarcity drives the price to $45.00 USD/barrel, we pay $45.00, the Europeans will pay 40.50 EUD/barrel. If the currencies were in the opposite positions we would still pay $45.00 USD/barrel and the Europeans would pay 49.50 EUD/barrel. The perceived value of the oil will affect the price, but the price we pay per barrel will not vary according to the Euro or any any other country’s currency. They have to pin their prices on our dollar. The Dollar Standard. That is my entire point.
Yep. Petey O’Boy, you have definitely proved that I am arguing with an IDIOT.
I will waste no more of my time with someone who thinks economists and oil industry analysts have no knowledge about what they are talking about. Go back into your IDIOT cave and have a great life with your weak dollar.
I think the only way to be less dependent and affected by gas prices hike is to change our commuting travelling habits. Either to use commuter transit systems if available or to form a carpool. I tried the driving cost calculator of the carpooling network ( http://www.carpoolingnetwork.com ) and they suggest huge savings for carpoolers: up to 2000$ and 1,5 tons of GHG per year.