We Warned You... Montana Gas Prices Keep Climbing

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Gasoline prices in Montana continue to rise but remain lower than the national average. Patrick De Haan is the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy and he provided the current numbers.

“Average gasoline prices in Montana have risen 13.8 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.09 per gallon today,” De Haan said. “Prices in Montana are 25.1 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand 17.4 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.”

As of Monday afternoon, several stations in Missoula had already raised their prices to at least $3.18 per gallon.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Montana was priced at $2.79 per gallon yesterday while the most expensive was $3.27 per gallon.

Montana is currently 23rd in the U.S. when it comes to the average price of gas.

“The national average price of gasoline has risen 8.7 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.26 per gallon today,” De Haan said. “The national average is up 16.7 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 11.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 10.0 cents in the last week and stands at $4.09 per gallon.”

De Haan said we have officially entered the time of year when gas prices traditionally start their spring fling.

“We've already seen the streak of consecutive increases in the national average hit four weeks,” De Haan said. “While the early start could also mean an early end, we still have as many as 8 weeks that gas prices typically increase, and anything can happen between now and then. One of the most critical elements to how much gas prices will climb is how quickly and effectively refiners can finish their pre-summer maintenance, start producing EPA-mandated summer gasoline, and build up supply of it before Memorial Day."

De Haan said he expects any drops in prices will be replaced by pricier gasoline as we get closer to the start of spring.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

Gallery Credit: Sophia Crisafulli