WASHINGTON, D.C. — Drivers in the Pacific Northwest saw some of the nation’s steepest gas price increases this past week as a pipeline outage sent Oregon and Washington averages soaring, AAA reported Thursday.
For several days, Washington overtook California as the state with the most expensive gas before California began bracing for refinery maintenance-related hikes this fall. As of Thursday, California’s statewide average was $4.65 a gallon, compared with $4.64 in Washington and $4.26 in Oregon.
Nationally, the average price for a gallon of regular rose by a penny since last week to $3.20. That’s down slightly from one year ago, when the national average was $3.21.
“Even though West Coast drivers are feeling pain at the pump, prices remain relatively low in the Plains and the South,” AAA said in its weekly update. Mississippi had the nation’s cheapest average at $2.71 a gallon, followed closely by Oklahoma at $2.74 and Louisiana at $2.76.
According to the Energy Information Administration, U.S. gasoline demand climbed from 8.50 million barrels per day last week to 8.81 million, while domestic supply fell from 220 million barrels to 217.6 million. Production also decreased, averaging 9.4 million barrels per day.
At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate crude fell 47 cents to settle at $64.05 a barrel. Crude oil inventories decreased by 9.3 million barrels, leaving U.S. stocks about 5% below the five-year seasonal average.
Meanwhile, the average cost of charging an electric vehicle at a public station held steady at 36 cents per kilowatt hour nationwide. Alaska topped the list at 51 cents per kWh, while Kansas offered the lowest average at 25 cents.
Drivers can find updated fuel and charging costs along their routes using the AAA TripTik Travel Planner.
