While you couldn’t tell from all the snow on the roads, refineries are preparing to start making the more expensive summer blend of fuel, which means gasoline prices are rising in Iowa and nationwide.
Gail Weinholzer , spokeswoman from Triple-A-Iowa, says there are two primary factors pushing up the pump prices. “Crude oil prices have risen from about $95 a barrel to about $100 a barrel,” Weinholzer says, “and secondly, it’s about this time of year we start the switch-over, going from the winter-grade to the summer-grade fuels.”
The statewide average for a gallon of gas is now $3.29, which is six-cents below the national average. The statewide average has gone up 11-cents a gallon in the past month. Weinholzer says you likely won’t be seeing gas any cheaper for a while. “We don’t necessarily consider those prices to be continuing to move further up but we certainly don’t expect any significant declines either,” Weinholzer says.
Iowa’s cheapest gas can be found in Davenport at $3.14 a gallon, while Waterloo is the most expensive at $3.37. While the current statewide average is $3.29 a gallon, a year ago the gas prices were much higher in Iowa, averaging $3.70 a gallon.
(Reporting by Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)