WASHINGTON — The average price of regular gasoline at U.S. filling stations rose to $1.86 a gallon as refiners shut units for maintenance and repairs and OPEC output cuts.
The motor fuel gained 8 cents, or 4.3 percent, in the two weeks ended Friday, according to oil analyst Trilby Lundberg’s survey of 7,000 filling stations nationwide.
“The first reason gas is up is slightly higher crude-oil prices,” Lundberg said. “Adding a little bit of impetus to that is demand is not hemorrhaging as it was.”
AAA, the nation’s biggest motoring club, said Sunday that regular gasoline at the pump averaged $1.845 a gallon, up 3.2 percent from $1.792 on Jan. 11.
The highest average price for self-serve regular gasoline in the U.S. was $2.37 a gallon in Anchorage, Alaska, Lundberg said. The lowest was in Billings, Mont., at $1.44 a gallon.
