Drivers nationwide are experiencing their first increases in gasoline pump prices in 18 weeks, the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced this morning, ending what may have been the longest consecutive streak of weeks for sliding gas prices in 20 years.
The Advertiser reports the EIA, which surveys gasoline prices each Monday, says the 17 consecutive weeks of declining prices marked the longest decline since a 24-week stretch of EIA weekly surveys in 1995.
Prices rose nationally to an average of $2.068 per gallon on Monday, the survey says, up from $2.044 on Jan. 26. The Jan. 19 survey listed prices at $2.066.
Don Redman, AAA of Louisiana spokesman, says consumers should prepare for an upturn in pump prices that are linked to seasonal turns. For example, he says, Louisiana refineries generally shut down at mid-winter to adjust their plants for producing a summer grade gasoline that burns cleaner and is less volatile—and more expensive to refine.
Some refinery shutdowns are linked to routine maintenance for the plants, which are aged, while some of them are “functioning museums,” Redman says. Refineries may stay down four to six weeks.
In Louisiana, pump prices rose on average from $1.87 a gallon to $1.90, Redman says. According to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report, gas in Baton Rouge is selling for an average of $1.82 this morning, up a penny from Monday.
