Montana Gas Prices Jump Again, National Average Drops

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Montana gas prices continue to rise. Patrick De Haan is the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, and he provided the current numbers.

“Average gasoline prices in Montana have risen 9.1 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $4.55 per gallon today,” De Haan said. “Prices in Montana are 70.2 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand $1.38 per gallon higher than a year ago."

As of Monday morning, most stations in Missoula are charging $4.69, which is about a 20 cents increase from last week. According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Montana was priced at $4.19 per gallon yesterday, while the most expensive was $4.99 per gallon.

Get our free mobile app

Montana is currently ranked 17th in the U.S. when it comes to the average price of gas, which is seven spots higher than last week.

"The national average price of gasoline has fallen 1 cent per gallon in the last week, averaging $4.47 per gallon today,” De Haan said. “The national average is up 45.2 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands $1.33 per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has decreased .5 cents compared to a week ago and stands at $5.62 per gallon.”

According to De Haan, the national average price of gasoline spent much of last week drifting lower after jumping early in the week as oil prices softened on hopes that diplomatic progress between the U.S. and Iran could help ease supply concerns.

“However, that optimism faded after President Trump’s meeting with China’s Xi Jinping failed to produce a breakthrough on Iran, while renewed warnings toward Tehran have helped push oil prices higher again,” De Haan said. “With global oil inventories continuing to trend toward historically tight levels, markets remain extremely sensitive to geopolitical developments and potential supply disruptions. As a result, gasoline and diesel prices are likely to remain volatile, and with Memorial Day approaching, any sustained increase in oil prices could begin pushing retail fuel prices higher again in the weeks ahead.”

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