By Neil Doyle
BLOOMINGTON – Gas prices in Illinois are down about five cents over the week, averaging $3.81 a gallon, according to GasBuddy.
Prices at the pump are down almost 15 cents from a month ago, and Illinois gas prices are more than a dollar lower from a year ago.
GasBuddy says the national average is unchanged from last week, averaging $3.50 a gallon.
“After declining going into July 4, average gasoline prices have struggled to find much momentum in either direction as the price of crude oil has continued to bounce around, digesting offsetting news on both sides of the scale: supply, which OPEC+ continues to try and tighten, and weak global demand as monetary policy restrains growth,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “I don’t see much chance of a major break out of the tight range we’ve held since April, but there is rising risk for hurricane season and potential disruptions as major forecaster Colorado State University released its third forecast for 2023 hurricane season, showing a sharp uptick in the number of expected major hurricanes. Heading into the prime of summer gasoline demand, any disruptions, whether storms or unexpected outages and what might be a small challenge outside of the summer driving season, could be a larger problem, so there is some risk to gas prices going into the second half of summer.”
Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]
