New York, national prices for gas inch up

Average retail gas prices in New York rose 0.5 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.31 per gallon.

KINGSTON, N.Y. >> Average retail gasoline prices in New York have risen 0.5 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.31 per gallon Sunday.

This compares with the national average, which has increased 1.5 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.22, according to gasoline price website Gas Buddy.com.

Including the change in gas prices in New York during the past week, prices Sunday were 9.7 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 1.1 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.

“Gasoline prices quickly reacted to news last week that OPEC had come to a decision regarding cutting back oil production,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. “Oil prices surged on the news, which fueled gas prices to jump as well, but several days after the news broke, there’s reason to doubt OPEC’s sincerity of a possible production cut. In addition, Hurricane Matthew is a major storm worth monitoring as it heads for the East Coast, perhaps to areas affected by the Colonial Pipeline outage last month.”

The national average has increased 1.4 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 7.3 cents per gallon lower than this day a year ago.

According to GasBuddy historical data, gasoline prices on Oct. 3 in New York have ranged widely over the last five years: $2.41 per gallon in 2015, $3.59 per gallon in 2014, $3.67 per gallon in 2013, $4.13 per gallon in 2012 and $3.72 per gallon in 2011.