Montana Gas Prices are $1.24 Per Gallon Higher Than a Year Ago

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Montana gas prices are on the rise after a few weeks of stability. Patrick De Haan is the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, and he provided the current numbers.

“Average gasoline prices in Montana have risen 7.5 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $4.47 per gallon today,” De Haan said. “Prices in Montana are 16.5 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand $1.24 per gallon higher than a year ago."

As of Monday morning, the two stations at the corner of Reserve and Mullan in Missoula were charging $4.38, which is a nine cent increase from last week. According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Montana was priced at $4.11 per gallon yesterday, while the most expensive was $5.34 per gallon.

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Montana is currently ranked 12th in the U.S. when it comes to the average price of gas, which is three spots lower than last week.

"The national average price of gasoline has risen 17.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $4.25 per gallon today,” De Haan said. “The national average is up 19 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands $1.14 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has increased 31.6 cents compared to a week ago and stands at $6.18 per gallon.”

De Haan said average gasoline and diesel prices rose in every state over the last week.

“Geopolitical tensions escalated on multiple fronts, with friction between the U.S. and Iran, new hostilities in the Red Sea, and the shutdown of Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline all combined to jolt prices sharply higher," said De Haan. "New weekend attacks also knocked two additional Russian refineries offline, further straining global refined product supplies and likely offsetting any seasonal relief. Diesel prices could climb even faster in the wake of the new refinery attacks. While most of the country transitions to cheaper winter-blend gasoline this week, the scale of ongoing geopolitical escalations makes meaningful price relief unlikely in the near term.”

De Haan said motorists should brace for continued volatility 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