Fuel prices jump 13 cents a gallon in the past week

Chattanooga gas prices jumped an average of 13 cents a gallon in the past week, the first weekly increase in local fuel prices in the past 10 weeks.

The average price of regular gas increased to $1.59 per gallon in Chattanooga as the economy began to reopen and travel and gas consumption increased, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 170 stations.

The rise in prices last week left local prices at the pump 7 cents a gallon higher than a month ago. But gas prices remain 84.1 cents a gallon below year-ago levels.

With the exception of a brief period in March 2016, gas prices this spring have been the lowest for any period in Chattanooga in more than two decades and, adjusted for inflation, some of the lowest gas prices in history.

“Gasoline demand continues to rebound across the U.S. as more states reopen, with a week on week rise of nearly 5%, according to data from GasBuddy’s free payments card,” said Patrick

DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “The boost in demand has led oil and gasoline prices to rally, and as long as states continue to loosen restrictions, it’ll mean more motorists on the roads and filling their tank.”

Gas prices in Chattanooga average 24 cents a gallon below the U.S. average price of $1.83 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.com.

The cheapest gas in Tennessee on Monday was being sold in Memphis where a Citgo station was selling regular gas for $1.14 a gallon.

“For now, the continued recovery in gas prices will nearly completely depend on improvement in the coronavirus situation, as long as refineries boost production again as demand continues to rise again,” DeHaan said.

Despite last week’s rise in oil prices, oil futures ended lower Monday, as a slump in demand for crude outweighed support from a move by Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers to further cut output in June.

Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry directed Saudi Aramco to reduce its crude-oil production by an extra, voluntary 1 million barrels per day beginning in June, a Saudi Ministry of Energy official told the Saudi Press Agency, according to news reports.

OPEC and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, agreed last month to reduce daily output by 9.7 million barrels per day from May 1 through June to help shore up oil prices.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.