According to a press release from Montrae Waiters, spokeswoman for AAA – The Auto Club Group, Georgia prices at the pump have climbed four cents over the past week, to an average of $2.28 per gallon as of this morning.

“Rising crude oil prices contribute to higher gas prices this week,” said Montrae Waiters, spokeswoman, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “An increase in crude utilization and increasing crude prices have and will continue to contribute to higher pump prices for drivers throughout the month.”

Why are prices climbing?

AAA reported the following reasons for the recent steady climb in prices:

Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has increased by 4 cent to $2.46. Pump prices have increased this week, while gas demand decreased slightly from 7.83 million barrels a day to 7.78 last week, according to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). In addition, total domestic gasoline supplies increased by 4.5 million barrels to 252.2 million barrels and total crude utilization across domestic refineries took a small step forward from 81.7 percent to 82.3 percent.

At the close of last Thursday’s formal trading session, WTI increased by 54 cents to settle at $56.23, which is the highest settlement price of the year. Crude prices rose last week after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its production reduction agreement partners met to review compliance with their agreement to collectively reduce their crude production by 7.2 million barrels a day. The group decided to hold the cuts steady and expects output to remain low this year, since demand is forecasted to be lower than expected throughout 2021 due to ongoing crude demand concerns as the pandemic continues to keep travel restrictions in place. Crude prices have also been bolstered by EIA’s latest report showing that total domestic crude inventories dropped by 1 million barrels the week before. The current level now sits at 475.7 million bbl.

Cobb County gasoline prices

The average price in Cobb County is $2.28, the same as the statewide average. 

It is always possible to find lower gas prices than the average by comparison shopping or using tools like http://gasbuddy.com.

How does AAA determine gas prices?

AAA explains it’s methodology for collecting data on gasoline prices at the pump as follows:

AAA updates fuel price averages daily at www.GasPrices.AAA.com. Every day up to 130,000 stations are surveyed based on credit card swipes and direct feeds in cooperation with the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) and Wright Express for unmatched statistical reliability. All average retail prices in this report are for a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline.