Gas prices climbing fast in Chattanooga area

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – Chattanooga continues to see our gas prices climb higher than the national average.

This follows months of prices that were some of the lowest in the country.

GasBuddy.com reports that average price in Chattanooga shot up 19.5 cents a gallon just last week.

The national average climbed just short of 12 cents.

The average price in Chattanooga is now $1.77 a gallon, compared to $1,93 nationally.

But we now have higher prices than our neighbors in Knoxville and Huntsville.

For more of 2015, we had cheaper gas than them.

Of course, gas prices normally shoot up in the spring.

“The cheapest gas prices of the year are now solidly behind us as the national average will soon again hit $2,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. “The current upward trend is an unfortunate one that we witness every year, but the sudden jolt this time around has been enhanced by a 45% jump in the price of crude oil in the last month. The large jump in crude oil prices comes amidst record oil inventories, yet it’s the mere threat that oil supply could be slashed from OPEC and non-OPEC countries at the same time oil demand is growing driving prices higher. And while oil inventories sound staggering at over 500 million barrels, that number represents 26 days of U.S. oil consumption, a rise of three days versus inventories a year ago. At the end of the day, we expect this rally in gasoline prices to run for another month or two before stalling out. Perhaps the best news? Motorists still could see the cheapest average summer gasoline prices in over a decade,” DeHaan said.

According to the GasBuddy.com local survey, the lowest price in our region is $1.55 at the Costco in North Georgia at the Cloud Springs Road exit.

The best price in Chattanooga right now is $1.59 at a Pure station on Dayton Boulevard. Everything else is well over $1.60.

The best price in Cleveland is $1.68 (Shell/Dalton Pike) and $1.69 (Conoco/Decatur Pike) in Athens, TN.

And if that makes you grumpy, remember, you could be in Murphy, NC, where the lowest price right now is $1.79 (Murphy USA & Exxon).