Gas Prices Rise in Wyoming as National Averages Inches Towards $5

Average gasoline prices in Wyoming have risen 5.4 cents in the last week, averaging $4.32 a gallon Tuesday, according to GasBuddy surveys.

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Prices in Wyoming are 21.3 cents higher than a month ago and $1.27 higher than a year ago, with the cheapest station in Wyoming being priced at $3.92 a gallon Sunday while the most expensive was $5.18 a gallon, compared to $5.13 a gallon from a week ago.

Natrona County currently is the second cheapest county in the state at an average gas price of $4.14 a gallon on Monday, with Albany County as the cheapest at $4.02 a gallon, while Teton County is the most expensive at an average of $4.71 a gallon.

The national average price of gasoline has risen .9 cents in the last week, averaging $4.60 a gallon Tuesday, with the national average up 42.8 cents from a month ago and $1.56 higher from a year ago.

Wyoming is the 17th cheapest state in the country, while Georgia is the cheapest average state on Tuesday at $4.16 a gallon while California continues to be the most expensive state at $6.18 a gallon.

Crude oil prices have risen $7 in the past week, up to $117 a barrel, but lower than a recent high of $119.65 a barrel on March 8, while the price of diesel has fallen one cent nationally in the past week and is currently $5.50 per gallon.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said:

"After several weeks of soaring gas prices, last week saw prices nationally slow down ahead of Memorial Day, but I'm afraid the good news ends there," De Haan said. "While gasoline demand has been seasonally soft, the large decline in refining capacity over the last few years has meant that refiners are struggling to produce even lower amounts of refined products. This has lead inventories to struggle to see any gains, boosting concern that they won't be able to catch up. Coupled with continued talk that the EU is still working on sanctioning Russian oil, even though Hungary is a hold out, oil markets are quite on edge. As a result of the continued decline in gasoline inventories in recent weeks, wholesale gas prices surged last week, which will likely boost prices at the pump in short order. Motorists in the Great Lakes could see prices jump early in the week to new record highs, and the rest of the nation will follow. Odds are rising that we'll eventually see the national average reach that dreaded $5 per gallon."