Retail gasoline in the U.S. has risen 8.4 cents in the past two days, according to Heathrow, Fla.-based AAA, the largest two-day increase since March 2011. The national average hasn’t fallen since Jan. 25, when it broke a 123-day losing streak.
The spike at the pump follows a 14 percent gain in oil prices and maintenance shutdowns at refineries. Plants typically use the period from January through March to make routine repairs and upgrades before fuel demand increases before summer.
“This time of year we usually see prices go up,” Gregg Laskoski, a Tampa, Fla.-based senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy Organization Inc., said by phone. “Reduced output from refineries always stresses supply. Depending on a lot of things like the weather and size and scope of each refinery, sometimes it can take a couple weeks, sometimes seven to eight weeks.”
When refiners return from maintenance, they will begin to adjust their gasoline production, blending in more expensive products to meet tighter emissions specifications for summer.
“Drivers had a great run of steadily declining gas prices, but that trend is over for now,” said Michael Green, a Washington, D.C.-based spokesman for AAA.
The average retail price was $2.151 a gallon Wednesday, AAA said, after sinking to $2.033 on Jan. 25, the lowest level since March 2009.
In Denver, the average price is below the national average but rose to $1.954 Thursday from $1.84 a week ago.
