People are heading to the pump to travel more and gas prices are rising. Since mid-May, gasoline demand has increased 18% to 7.9 million barrels per day according to the Energy Information Administration. The slow, but steady rise in demand has pushed the national pump price more expensive by 13% in the same time frame. Today’s national average is $2.10. That is seven cents more on the week, 24 cents more on the month, but 59 cents cheaper on the year. Today, only one-third of state averages are $1.99 per gallon or less and the majority of those are states in the South and Southeast.
Illinois has seen the smallest increase in the region with just a 1 cent jump in average since last week. Morgan County’s average rises to $2.22 per gallon, eight cents under the state average of $2.30. The City of Jacksonville is better than the county average at $2.21 per gallon, three cents higher than a week ago. Nearby Scott and Brown County hold steady with the cheapest prices in the region at $2.18. Springfield is currently six cents better than Morgan County at $2.16 per gallon.
Gasoline stocks in the region held steady at 54 million barrels while refineries held steady as well at 75% utilization. Typically large jumps at the pump coincide with a large draw in stocks. However, this region typically sees high volatility in price swings from week to week. It’s likely many of the states which saw large increases in the last week will see smaller increases in the week ahead.