With the exception of western Maryland.
Towson, Md (KM). Gasoline prices were inching up in Maryland this week. As of Friday, they stood at $2.26 per gallon which is two-cents more than last week.
But western Maryland is apparently not part of that trend. The auto club says the average price in Hagerstown this week is $2.30 per gallon. In Cumberland, the average price at the pump is $2.34 per gallon. Both are unchanged from last week.
“Unfortunately, Frederick is not following the trend of western Maryland where prices are holding steady in that area of the state,” says spokeswoman Christine Delise with AAA Mid-Atlantic. “Frederick is currently at $2.25 per gallon. That is three-cents higher than a week ago.”
This week, the national is $2.28 per gallon, an increase of two-cents from the previous week.
Normally, AAA says gasoline prices go up during the summer as more Americans take road trips, and demand for fuel increases. “Gasoline demand, while perhaps in the more western area of Maryland, we’re not seeing that rise in demand so stations are holding prices steady,” Delise says.
Overall, she says prices are going up because the cost of crude oil is increasing. AAA says West Texas Intermediate settled above $46.79 per barrel on Thursday. Since the middle of June, that commodity has been settling in the $44 to $45 per barrel range. The auto club says this slight gain in the price of crude could mean that the oil surplus in draining very slowly.
AAA says consumers could be seeing periodic swings in the price of crude oil as summer demand continues to be strong, and inventories of crude oil drop.
The auto club says the price of crude is expected to go down in September as the summer driving season comes to an end, and refineries begin manufacturing the winter blend of gasoline.
For motorists who want to get gasoline as the lowest possible price, AAA says they can on line to Fuel Price Finder at AAA.com/fuelfinder which locates the lowest gas prices in their area. They can also go to the AAA Gas Cost Calculator at GasPrices.AAA.com/AAA-gas-cost-calculato which helps budget their travel expenses. There’s also TripTick Mobil at AAA.com/mobile which can plot fuel prices along your travel route.
By Kevin McManus