Arizona gas prices expected to rise up to 35 cents in coming months

PHOENIX – Arizona drivers should be prepared dig deeper to fill up their tanks in the coming months.

“I think prices could inch up maybe a total of 15 to 35 cents a gallon in the next month or two,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick DeHaan told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Thursday.

DeHaan said the average cost per gallon went up three cents in the last week to $2.45 statewide and $2.46 in the Phoenix area. He added that it was slightly higher than this time a year ago.

“Unfortunately this is the time of year that we start to see gas prices go up, and that’s exactly what they’re doing,” he said.

National Average Nearly 20-Cents Higher than Two Months Ago https://t.co/OIICQxu4k8

— AAA (@AAAnews) March 4, 2019

According to AAA, Arizona’s prices are closely tracking the national average, which was $2.45 on Thursday.

DeHaan attributed the rise to two factors: refinery maintenance to prepare for higher summer demand and the seasonal transition to cleaner-burning gas, which is more expensive to produce.

“Southern California refineries generally switch a little bit earlier, and some of those refineries feed into Arizona, so you will likely see higher gas prices coming down the pipeline along with that cleaner gasoline,” he said.

If oil prices rise on top of the seasonal factors, it would lead to an even sharper spike.

“That could bring Arizona’s average back into the upper two-dollar-a-gallon range by the time prices peak,” DeHaan said.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.

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