Latest increase smaller than recent others

The average cost of a gallon of regular in the Philadelphia market increased just 1.5 cents in the past week to $3.55 on Monday, according to GasBuddy. The rise was much smaller than the past few weeks’ increases.

The $3.55 per gallon is 18.9 cents higher than a month ago and 13.7 cents lower than a year ago.

The market is still running below the national average, which was up 3.1 cents to $3.60 on Monday, according to Gas Buddy. That’s 14.2 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and 5.5 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

The national average price of diesel was down 1.2 cents in the past week to $4.01 per gallon.

The Philadelphia market price is the fourth highest for an April 15 of the past 11, behind 2022, 2023 and 2014.

Adjoining areas also saw modest price increases in the past week: New Jersey up 1.1 cents to $3.32 per gallon, Wilmington up 1.8 cents to $3.37 per gallon.

“With Iran’s attack on Israel over the weekend, the stakes couldn’t have been higher for a major potential impact on oil and gasoline prices. With the attacks largely thwarted and mostly unsuccessful, and with Iran signaling that their attack will be the end of their response, the risk to crude oil has diminished, and the situation is thankfully likely to deescalate,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “If Israel, which has promised to respond with further attacks, indeed does press on, it could certainly still push oil prices higher. However, motorists can expect other factors to influence what they’re paying at the pump. Motorists in the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S. will soon see a spike in prices as they make the leap to summer gasoline, as much as 20-50 cents per gallon higher in nearly a dozen states.”