# Why have gas prices gone up recently
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-gas-prices-gone-up-recently/748032
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 5, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-gas-prices-gone-up-recently/748032 "2016-03-05T19:50:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-gas-prices-gone-up-recently/748032/21 "2016-03-06T16:27:24Z")
> [@samclem](#):
>
> Not so. Gas in Phoenix is $1.30/gal this morning(according to gas buddy).
Profit per gallon for the station is typically under $0.05/gal, so you’re likely seeing a difference in feedstock and refinery costs. Taxes factor in too, but the delta is only $0.03/gal for those two states, unless something has changed since this summer.
Or way more people buying lottery tickets and cigarettes in one place.
---
### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-gas-prices-gone-up-recently/748032/22 "2016-03-06T16:35:19Z")
O.K., it’s possible that the 1.29 is not a gimmick in certain parts of Virginia, but the .47 is a gimmick in Michigan. In any case, Wesley Clark claims that gas went up from $1.27 to $1.90 at the same gas station. I can only see that as the first price being a marketing gimmick.
---
### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-gas-prices-gone-up-recently/748032/23 "2016-03-06T16:50:47Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#):
>
> In any case, Wesley Clark claims that gas went up from $1.27 to $1.90 at the same gas station. I can only see that as the first price being a marketing gimmick.
Again, I bough gas here in Akron Ohio 3 weeks ago for $1.45/gal. The same stations a week later all went to $1.99/gal. Part of it was the wholesale price of gasoline to Ohio jumped 0.30/gal that week.
---
### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-gas-prices-gone-up-recently/748032/24 "2016-03-06T16:57:34Z")
So why did the prices jump .30 a gallon in Ohio when they jumped an average of .05 in the U.S.?
---
### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-gas-prices-gone-up-recently/748032/25 "2016-03-06T17:24:29Z")
Looking at the gas buddy website, gas where I live was about 45 cents below the national average last month at its low of $1.27, now it is almost exactly matched to the national average despite the national average only going up 15 cents. So something about where I live caused the gas prices to be far below national averages, then to rapidly catch up in the last month.
> **[Gas Station Price Charts - Local & National Historical Average Trends -...](https://www.gasbuddy.com/charts)**
>
> Compare gas and crude oil prices over time for the US Average, Canada Average, and your hometown. View charts for the past month to 10 years.
---
### Author:  [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-gas-prices-gone-up-recently/748032/26 "2016-03-06T17:24:51Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#):
>
> So why did the prices jump .30 a gallon in Ohio when they jumped an average of .05 in the U.S.?
Spring maintenance shutdowns in midwest refineries.
---
### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2016, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-gas-prices-gone-up-recently/748032/27 "2016-03-07T01:30:04Z")
> [@Ruken](#):
>
> Spring maintenance shutdowns in midwest refineries.
That, and evil.
Don’t forget evil.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-gas-prices-gone-up-recently/748032.md?page=1)