Triple A was right this week when it said motorists didn’t find “love” at the pumps—a cute play on words for Valentine’s Day. Unless you drove into a Love’s convenience store.
Oklahoma motorists saw a 6-cent jump from a week ago in prices at the pump as the state’s average reached $3.20 a gallon. That’s 26-cents higher than a month ago and compared to $2.28 paid by drivers one year ago.
As the week progressed, things didn’t improve as the national average increased from $3.48 on Valentine’s Day to $3.52 by Thursday, an increase of 8 cents over the previous week.
The high cost of crude oil was the cause of the increase in prices as moderating winter weather and growing optimism over a potential fading of the omicron variant sparked a hike in gas demand.
Lawton continued with the lowest average for a metropolitan area at $3.02, still an increase of 5 cents from last week. Oklahoma City’s average increased 8 cents from $3.10 last week to $3.18 as of Thursday. The city’s average was $2.89 a month ago and $2.25 last year at this time.
Drivers in Tulsa pay $3.22 on average, up 5 cents from last week and 27 cents higher than a month ago.
The highest average in the state is $3.52 in Coal County. But drivers in Coalgate can drive to adjacent counties and pay much less—$3.19 in Atoka County, $3.20 in Johnston County and $3.15 in Pittsburg County.
At least 16 counties in the state average $3.27 to $3.52 a gallon and they range from the Southeast, the Southwest and the Northwest.
A dozen counties have the lowest averages ranging from $2.96 to $3.15 a gallon. Cotton County in the southwest is lowest at $2.96.
Oklahoma’s $3.20 average compared to $3.18 in Missouri, $3.19 in Arkansas, $3.21 in Kansas, $3.22 in Texas, $3.35 in Colorado and $3.49 in New Mexico. Drivers in New Mexico saw an 18-cent jump in the past week.
“More drivers fueling up here coupled with a persistent tight supply of oil worldwide provides the recipe for higher prices at the pump,” said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson. “And unfortunately for consumers, it does not appear that this trend will change anytime soon.”
- The nation’s top 10 largest weekly increases: New Mexico (+18 cents), Delaware (+15 cents), North Carolina (+12 cents), Tennessee (+12 cents), New York (+10 cents), Nebraska (+9 cents), Maryland (+9 cents), New Jersey (+9 cents), South Carolina (+8 cents) and Georgia (+8 cents).
- The nation’s top 10 most expensive markets: California ($4.70), Hawaii ($4.46), Washington ($3.95), Oregon ($3.94), Nevada ($3.89), Alaska ($3.80), Washington, D.C. ($3.71), Pennsylvania ($3.68), New York ($3.68) and Illinois ($3.66).
