COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado — Gas prices rose nationally by $0.05 a gallon over the past week for an average of $3.72. The uptick comes after 14 weeks of continuous decline from record high prices of $5.02 in mid-June.
AAA point to higher regional prices in areas experiencing supply chain disruptions caused by refinery problems ranging from scheduled maintenance to a fire.
"That sent some bubbles into the system, some hiccups into the system," explained Skyler McKinley, Regional Director of Public Affairs for AAA Colorado.
"You will see prices spikes at individual service stations as a function of that."
Those hiccups at stations have happened most frequently in California, the Pacific Northwest, and the Great Lakes region. However, McKinley said that they can occasionally impact stations here in the Mountain West.
"In Colorado Springs, for example, there’s been a lot more price stability than you would think. We’re roughly on par at a regional average as we were last week. We’ve actually lost a couple of cents from this time yesterday," he said.
Prices generally trend downward this time of year as stations switch to cheaper winter blends of gasoline. Demand also drops off as kids are back in school and families are taking fewer road trips.McKinley said that Hurricane Ian has a limited impacted refining capacity.
“About 5 percent of total US refining capacity is right now been pulled as a result of people being pulled off of derricks in the Gulf, but not a significant shutdown as we would see if this storm, for example, slammed into Texas,” he said.
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