Gas Prices Jump Eight Cents, More Bad News to Come

In just one week, Montana's average gas price flew from $3.08 to $3.16 per gallon.

According to Gas Buddy Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan there are many gas stations in Billings still selling gas for less than $3.00 a gallon. The story in Missoula is quite a bit different, prices here vary from $3.05 to $3.19. Still, DeHaan says Montana is "lucky" as prices throughout the U.S. are much higher than they are in Montana.

At $3.68 per gallon the national price of gas shows few signs of slowing. DeHaan says the prices are driven by signs of a "strong economy," namely the strong showing of the Dow Jones recently. According to DeHaan, the strong market has also driven up commodity prices, resulting in the rocketing price at the pump.

Gas prices are expected to continue to rise for at least the next two weeks.