Surprise raise in gas prices last week hits Chattanooga

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – Gas prices are supposed to fall like the leaves this time of year.

But they didn’t last week across the country, according to the GasBuddy.com survey.

Prices rose for the first time in weeks here in Chattanooga.

They went up 3.7 cents for an average price of $2.14.

The national average was almost twice that.

We still have the cheapest gas in the region, by a good margin.

Nine of the cheapest 11 prices in the state are in our area.

1) $1.89 Exxon Hixson 153/Gadd
$1.89 Mapco Hixson 153/Gadd

3) $1.91 Murphy USA Hixson 153/Carmack

4) $1.94 Citgo Hixson 153/Carmack

5) $1.97 Speedway Brainerd Brainerd/Belvoir

6) $1.99 Circle K Harrison 58/Mahlon
$1.99 Hi Tech Brainerd Brainerd/Germantown
$1.99 Citgo Red Bank Dayton Blvd/Gadd
$1.99 Gas N Go Red Bank Dayton Blvd/Leawood

The lowest price in Athens is $2.01 at both the Murphy USA (Decatur Pike/US 11) & Ingles Gas Express (Decatur Pike/TN 30)

Also, the lowest price in all of Georgia is in Flintstone.

$2.05 Hi-Tech 193/Chatt. Valley Rd

So is the price hike a new trend or just a blip?

“It’s been a frenzied week at fuel pumps across the country, but without a hurricane driving up prices, many motorists have been dumbfounded about what’s taking place with the unseasonable upward trend,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “Such a strong weekly upward move is rare in the fall, but is explained by a confluence of factors, including oil prices hitting a new 2017 high, a major pipeline leak resulting in disruption, autumn refinery maintenance, but perhaps among the more surprising- robust demand for gasoline so late in the season. Such demand has magnified relatively mundane factors into a major gas price event for much of the United States and Canada. But some slowdown is expected in the Great Lakes, the region hardest hit with price spikes in the last week, as repairs Explorer Pipeline have been completed, but some additional bumps in the road ahead can be expected for motorists elsewhere.”