While Gas Prices Skyrocket Nationally †Not Much Bump At The Pump In Montana †Yet

Gas Prices

As you may have heard on The Osgood File, gas prices around the country are skyrocketing, however, Montana seems to be an oasis of small increases.

Patrick DeHaan is the Senior Petroleum Analyst with GasBuddy dot com. He was recently interviewed by a CBS New affiliate and the segment was picked up by Charles Osgood and the Osgood file. As a regular contributor to KGVO, Patrick outlined the activity in gas prices in Montana.

"This is the time of year when we're fairly accustomed to seeing these kinds of increases," DeHaan said. "Montana, meanwhile, only went up a few fractions of a penny. It's fairly uneventful in Montana, with an average price of $2.34 a gallon. That's up just a tenth of a penny, but nationally, we're seeing a lot bigger bump at the pump. The national average is up about six cents a gallon. In Montana, this may be the calm before the storm."

DeHaan said the price of oil has been moving steadily upward dragging gas prices along for the ride.

"The price of oil has jumped from $47 a barrel just three weeks ago, up to $52 a barrel this morning," he said. "In fact, we're closing in now on $53 per barrel, coupled with the fact that many areas are switching to reformulated gasoline, a type of expensive summer gas, and that's really causing a jump at the pump."

DeHaan said the increase at your local gas station follows more quickly depending on the market size, while areas like Florida and California experience rapid increases, rural areas like Montana experience a more gradual increase.

One thing DeHaan assures Montana drivers. The price of gas always goes up much faster that it comes back down.

Source: www.bing.com