Montana Gas Prices Rise Again, Hope For Lower Prices Postponed Till June

Montana gas prices rose again during the first week of May, and the barrel price of oil rose as well, reaching around $96, a four week high.

"Average prices have continued to creep up ever so slightly rising another penny to about $3.34," said Gasbuddy.com Petroleum Analyst Patrick Dehaan. That's up from $3.33 a week ago and remains quite a bit lower than last year when prices averaged $3.74."

Many fear that tensions between Syria and Israel could be causing the spike in oil prices, but Dehaan says another factor is to blame.

"I think a lot of it doesn't have anything to do with anything in the Middle East, but more-so that the Dow is having a really good month of May so far; hitting new record highs," Dehaan said. "Whenever the Dow Jones moves significantly in either direction, oil prices have a tendency to follow."

The national average is $3.51, down more than 25 cents from the same time last year.

Dehaan said he expects prices to contract in June as they have done consistently over the past few years.