Will Montana Gas Prices Climb Another 20-50 Cents This Week?

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Montana gas prices are rising at an alarming rate. Patrick De Haan is the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, and he provided the current numbers.

“Average gasoline prices in Montana have risen 34.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.12 per gallon today,” De Haan said. “Prices in Montana are 40.1 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand 2.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago."

As of Monday morning, most stations in Missoula were charging $3.19, which is a 40-cent increase from last week. According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Montana was priced at $2.49 per gallon yesterday, while the most expensive was $3.59 per gallon.

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Montana is currently ranked 40th in the U.S. when it comes to the average price of gas, which is 10 spots lower than last week.

"The national average price of gasoline has risen 51.1 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.45 per gallon today,” De Haan said. “The national average is up 54.1 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 41.6 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has increased 85.9 cents compared to a week ago and stands at $4.60 per gallon.”

In just a week, De Haan said consumers have seen gasoline prices surge at one of the fastest rates in years after oil prices spiked following U.S. strikes on Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

“With additional attacks across the Middle East over the weekend pushing oil above $100 per barrel for the first time in years, fuel markets are now rapidly recalibrating to the risk of prolonged disruption to global supply flows,” De Haan said. “As a result, gasoline prices in many states could climb another 20 to 50 cents per gallon this week, with price-cycling markets potentially seeing increases as early as today. Diesel may rise even more sharply, with increases of 35 to 75 cents per gallon possible as global distillate markets react.”

While the situation remains highly fluid, De Haan said consumers are already beginning to feel the impact as energy markets adjust to this sudden escalation.

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