Georgia gasoline prices surged an average of 25 cents per gallon on average over the past week, in keeping with a national rapid rise in gasoline prices.
According to the weekly press release from Montrae Waiters the spokeswoman for AAA – The Auto Club Group, Georgia drivers are now paying an average of $3.06 per gallon for regular unleaded.
AAA states that Monday’s state average is 25 cents more than a week ago, 24 cents more than a month ago, and 5 cents less than this time last year.
“Gas prices continue to rise across the U.S., but for the past 10 months Georgians were paying under $3.00 a gallon for gas due to suspension of the state’s gas tax,” said Montrae Waiters, AAA-The Auto Club Group spokeswoman. “Now that the gas tax has been reinstated, pump prices have increased. Unfortunately, we can’t predict how high gas prices will rise, however, we are 24 cents less than the national average which sits at $3.30.”
Prices in Cobb County
The price at the pump of a gallon of regular unleaded in Cobb County is $3.044, slightly less than 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.
What are the national trends?
Despite the recent sharp increase, the U.S. Energy Information Agency forecasts that prices in 2023 and 2024 will show a decline.
The agency wrote on its website:
“We forecast retail gasoline and diesel prices will decline in 2023 and 2024, according to our latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), after reaching multiyear highs in the first half of 2022.
“We forecast that retail prices for regular-grade gasoline will average $3.32 per gallon (gal) in 2023 and continue to decrease to average $3.09/gal in 2024, down from $3.96/gal in 2022. We expect on-highway diesel prices to decrease to average $4.23/gal in 2023 before decreasing further to $3.70/gal in 2024.
“These forecast price decreases are based on our expectation of lower demand growth for diesel and motor gasoline with continued high production of those products.”
How does AAA determine gas prices?
According to AAA:
“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.”
