Arkansas gas prices jump 15 cents

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - The cost of filling up your gas tank in Arkansas shot up 15.5 cents last week.

GasBuddy.com reported Monday that the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the Natural State rose to $3.08. That’s 43.6 cents more than motorists paid a month ago and 11.2 cents higher than a year ago.

The national average rose 11.3 cents in the last week to $3.39 a gallon. The national average price of diesel also rose 2.6 cents last week to an average of $4.60 per gallon.

“Macroeconomic factors have continued to weigh on oil and refined products, as strong demand in China hasn’t been slowed much by a surge in new Covid cases,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “In addition, releases of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve have wrapped up.”

He warned that without additional oil, “supply will tighten in the weeks ahead,” which could drive prices up further.

“Moving forward, it doesn’t look good for motorists, with prices likely to continue accelerating,” he concluded.