Today’s fuel price musings - and we’re back

March 24th, 2008 at 01:09pm Thomas V. Bona

Sorry to be MIA last week, I was tied up in airport coverage.

But meanwhile, a crazy week at the pump (data courtesy of AAA’s fuelgaugereport.com):

Gasoline: Rockford is back up to second-highest of Illinois metro areas, even though we’ve only risen 3 cents since last Monday (when we were lowest in the state). We’re at $3.33 a gallon, down more than a cent from yesterday. For those wondering, we’re still almost 14 cents shy of the all-time record, so here’s hoping today’s slight slide continues. We’re still below the state average, which dropped a penny to $3.35 a gallon today and has dropped 4 cents in the past week. The state average is so high because Chicago remains at $3.40 a gallon, down almost a penny from yesterday. Everyone else is clustered between $3.23 a gallon and $3.33 a gallon. The national average is at $3.26 a gallon, down a fraction of a cent from yesterday and 2 cents from last week. We’re celebrating our eighth-straight day of non-record-setting prices in the country (it’s the little things that count). Illinois now has the 9th-highest gas prices in the country.

Diesel: Hopefully these have peaked for now, too? Rockford’s record pace stopped Saturday at almost $4.14 and has since dipped to $4.12 a gallon. We have the fourth-highest diesel prices in Illinois. The state as whole remains on a record pace, increasing a fraction of a cent to $4.16 a gallon today. Chicago is up to $4.25 a gallon, and every metro area in the state is averaging at least $4. The nation as a whole is at $4.03 a gallon on average, down from Saturday’s record of $4.04. Illinois has the 9th-highest prices in the country.

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