Gasoline prices have hit a four-month high in Iowa. Triple-A-Iowa spokeswoman Gail Weinholzer says the statewide average is now two-39 a gallon for self-service unleaded, the highest we’ve seen since early November. Weinholzer says the OPEC meeting that’s underway is one reason for the latest price hike.
Weinholzer says there’s concern OPEC will decide there’s too much supply of gas and will restrict production. She says there’s also concern with the Iran nuclear situation and if the UN Security Council puts sanctions on Iran that would restrict that nation from making oil exports, that would send crude prices up. Weinholzer says both of the situations may be temporary.
She says “Hopefully there are two short-term situations that can be taken care of and we can resume some normalcy after that.” Weinholzer says prices tend to go up overnight but gas stations are always very slow to bring them back down. She blames that on market instability on both the supply and demand sides. She says as supply fluctuates, demand has continually increased both domestically and internationally. The statewide average for Iowa is two-39 a gallon, up 19-cents from a month ago and up 38-cents from a year ago. The national average is two-39, the same as Iowa.