Gasoline Prices Tick Higher

The drop in gasoline prices is over for now. The average per-gallon price of regular nationwide, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge, was $3.782, compared to $3.780 the day before and $3.805 a month ago.

Given the drop in oil prices, gas prices logically should have fallen more. But concerns about supply, the instability of Iran and OPEC's plans for early next year have kept prices high. Refinery activity in the United States may play a part as well. The problem is worse than its seems, when several of the most populous states are taken into account. Prices are above $4 in California, Connecticut and New York, and just below that level in Michigan, Illinois and Massachusetts.

If the fiscal cliff is reached, these gas prices could be the last straw to break the back of consumer spending.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Oil & Gas