Gas prices jumped again this week in west central Kentucky, up 10 cents to an average $3.10 per gallon.
According to the AAA East Central Gas Price Report, last week’s averages were $3.00. This time last year, however, it was $4.03/gallon.
In Caldwell County and around Princeton, it’s $3.19. In Calloway County and around Murray, it’s between $2.98 and $3.03. In Christian County and around Hopkinsville, it ranges from $2.91 to $3.09. Around Marion and Crittenden County, it’s $3.15. Near Eddyville and Lyon County, it’s $3.15 to $3.21. For Livingston County around Grand Rivers and Smithland, it’s from $3.15 to $3.19. Elkton and Guthrie in Todd County are reporting between $3.04 and $3.27. And for Cadiz and Trigg County, it’s between $3.19 and $3.29.
In Owensboro and Elizabethtown it’s $3.04, in Paducah it’s $3.07, in Bowling Green it’s $3.11, and in Louisville it’s $3.22.
The national average also increased seven cents to $3.47, even though regional, national and global demand and cost has recently fallen. Petrol companies are already switching to summer blend gasoline, which AAA officials report often costs 5-to-10 cents higher than typical blends. This week’s national average is three cents more than a month ago, but still 79 cents cheaper than this time last year.
Following Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate had decreased by 92 cents to settle at $76.66. And crude prices dropped after the Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated that additional interest rate increases are likely.
Market investors remain concerned that rising interest rates will tip the national economy into a recession, which would further lower oil demand in reduced economic activity.