It doesn’t feel much like springtime but the change in seasons is prompting a change in our driving habits — and gasoline prices are creeping upward statewide. Rose White, spokeswoman for Triple-A Iowa, says the trend will likely continue for the next several months.
White says, "We are seeing an increase in demand. Although the summer travel season hasn’t hit us yet, just the longer daylight hours increases demand for fuel supplies." While the national average for gasoline is around $2.05 a gallon, White says gas prices in Iowa are just above $2.00 mark.
"Across the state, motorists can expect to pay about $2 and 1 cent for self-service unleaded," White says, which is about 16-cents higher than prices from just a month ago. She says Iowans can expect to dig a bit deeper in their pockets to fill the gas tank in the months ahead.
White says, "We do expect prices to rise about probably to about the $2.25 level before the onset of the Memorial Day holiday period." She says the price of crude oil increased more than 20% over the past month and that’s contributing to higher prices paid per gallon of gas.