Spring Generally Brings Increased Pollen Counts And Increased Gasoline Prices

By Jack MoneyBusiness writer jmoney@oklahoman.comSpring has sprung. You can tell by increasing amounts of airborne pollen, and you can tell by what you’re paying to fill your tank at the gas station. Analysts say wholesale prices for fuel typically head higher this time of year as the market copes with increasing demands from consumers and a shrinking supply as refiners periodically shut their operations to reconfigure them to produce fuels that are blended for summer weather. More demand and less supply pushes wholesale pricing for the product higher, and retail prices follow right along. According to AAA, Oklahoma is among 11 states across the nation where the average retail price of gasoline on Thursday was less than $2.40 a gallon (the average price nationally was $2.59 a gallon). Oklahoma’s average retail price of gasoline Thursday was about $2.39 a gallon, up a penny per gallon compared to Wednesday’s price, up about 6 cents per gallon compared to a week earlier and up about a quarter a gallon, compared to a month ago. A year ago, the average retail price of gasoline in Oklahoma was about $2.38 a gallon. What makes this year a little different from 2018, however, is where wholesale (and retail) prices started the year and how quickly they’ve climbed. Volatility seen Genscape Inc., an analyst that tracks and provides real-time and historical data and forecasts on various energy markets, reports wholesale prices for gasoline in Oklahoma started off the year at a substantially cheaper level than where they were the same time in 2018. In the first week of January this year, it was costing just more than $1.30 a gallon at the rack (where distributors load product for deliveries to retail locations).Read more on NewsOK.com