Gas prices up slightly from last week

While South Sound gas prices are rising, the uptick isn’t as steep as it is nationally.

Gas prices in the area have climbed 0.6 cents a gallon in one week, compared with a 2.4 cents a gallon increase on average nationally, according to fuel price monitoring site GasBuddy.com. On Monday, Tacoma’s average price for a gallon of unleaded fuel was $2.34, while the state average was just below that at $2.33, according to Tacomagasprices.com.

In 2015 at this time, prices in Tacoma were $2.84 a gallon, in 2014, it was $3.89 a gallon.

The website reported Monday that the Orchard Street Arco and Tacoma’s Costco were tied for the lowest price at $1.96 a gallon. In Olympia, the lowest price Monday was $2.09 a gallon, found at two Arco stations and a 76 station, all on Martin Way East.

“Leading the demand surge has been gasoline, where the Energy Information Administration shows year-to-date demand to be up 3.4 percent from last year and up 7.4 percent from 2014, according to their ‘product supplied’ demand indicator,” said Will Speer, a Houston-based senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. “Unsurprisingly, this has impacted retail gasoline prices, causing 43 of the 50 states to raise prices from a week ago.”

This story was originally published April 25, 2016 at 9:09 PM with the headline "Gas prices up slightly from last week."