Today’s fuel price musings - Prices up here, but up more elsewhere

4 comments January 9th, 2009

Seems no real change in Rockford itself, so any increase is probably outlying stations catching up. I sense $2 is a real barrier gas stations don’t want to break if they don’t have to (it’s a big psychological blow to consumers), so they’ll stop going up at $1.99 even if their costs go up and perhaps won’t go back down as fast when costs drop.

While oil prices are slightly down again, it’s apparent that something it causing gas prices to elevate in the Midwest. A few more metro areas around the Midwest have passed Rockford in prices, and in general the region is behind only the west coast, Alaska and Hawaii.

Here are the prices (courtesy of AAA’s fuelgaugereport.com):

Gasoline: Rockford rose less than a cent to remain at $1.93 a gallon. We have the fourth-highest gas prices in the state, behind Chicago, Bloomington, and Quad Cities. We’re the 66rd-highest of the nation’s 250 metro areas. The Illinois average rose more than a cent to $1.94. The national average rose two cents to $1.78. Illinois has the seventh-highest gas prices in the nation, including the District of Columbia. Only Alaska and Hawaii remain above $2 a gallon.

Diesel: Rockford rose almost a cent to $2.45 a gallon. We have the fourth-highest diesel prices in the state. The state average dropped almost a cent to $2.54. The national average rose almost a cent to $2.44. Illinois has the 15th-highest diesel prices in the country. Only Alaska and Hawaii remain above $3 a gallon.