Chattanooga gas prices jump nearly 16 cents a gallon in past week

Despite 65% increase from a year ago, Chattanooga remains lowest priced city in Tennessee for gas

As the summer travel season begins and temperatures heat up this week, prices at the pump also continued to go up and could rise still higher this summer, according to a report issued Monday by Gasbuddy.com.

Average fuel prices in Chattanooga jumped by another 15.8 cents a gallon for regular gas in the past week, rising to a record high of $4.55 a gallon. Local gas prices are up by nearly 45 cents a gallon in the past month and are now $1.80 a gallon above where they were at the start of the summer travel season a year ago.

Although gas prices in Chattanooga have spiked by 65% in the past year, Chattanooga motorists still enjoy the lowest average fuel prices of any market in Tennessee. Surveys by both GasBuddy.com and AAA showed Chattanooga gas prices average 46 cents a gallon less than the U.S. average price of $5.01 and 6 cents a gallon less than the statewide average fuel price of $4.64 per gallon of regular gas.

Nationwide, GasBuddy surveys showed average fuel prices topped $5 a gallon last Thursday, and AAA said the average price of regular gas topped $5 a gallon over the weekend for the first time ever.

For now, the upward momentum may slow down, but prices are still just one potential supply jolt away from heading even higher, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a report Monday.

“Gasoline demand, while rising seasonally, is still well below previous records, but remains impressive with prices in all states at record levels,” De Hann said. “Should the rise in price finally start to slow demand, we could see some breathing room, but for now, it seems like Americans are proving resilient to record highs.”

Megan Cooper, spokeswoman for AAA — The Auto Club Group, said gasoline demand is projected to continue to rise with more summer travel even as prices rise.

“One bit of good news for Tennesseans, though, is that Tennessee moved up one spot this week to the eighth least expensive market in the nation,” she said in a statement Monday.

Oil prices declined in trading Monday morning, but rose later in the day. President Joe Biden conceded in a speech in Los Angeles last week that high fuel prices are likely to continue through the summer.

“We’re going to live with this inflation for a while,” Biden said at a Democratic fundraiser. “It’s going to come down gradually, but we’re going to live with it for a while.”