As of the week of June 2, gas prices are still inching upward in Montana. While prices skyrocketed in North and South Dakota over the past few weeks, Montana escaped with a small but steady climb in price. That growth rate appears to be consistent this week as well.

At the moment, Montana's prices are about 32 cents more expensive than they were at the first of July. In positive news, prices are about 12 cents cheaper than they were the same day a year ago.

"Average prices across Montana rose about three cents per gallon here in the last week to an average of close to $3.65 a gallon," said GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan. "Oil prices have come down, but seemingly starting this week, they are rising again. What is likely this week for gas prices is almost a carbon copy to what we saw last week with gas prices rising by a few cents per gallon."

The national average, meanwhile, is proving to be worse this year than last for the first time in many months. At the moment, the national average prices three cents more expensive than it was the same day last year. The price rise, is likely caused by refinery problems and delays that caused extreme price fluctuations in midwest states.

"While the national average has given up some ground to start the driving season, motorists have certainly seen a lot of ups and downs in different areas of the country," DeHaan said. "One thing remains the same throughout the United States, and that is we're still reliant on oil refineries to process crude oil into gasoline. When they go partially offline whether expected or unexpected, there's going to be tightness in gasoline supply, and that has an almost immediately impact at the gas pump."

Patrick DeHaan

 

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