Consumers may need to prepare to spend more for a gallon of gas tied to the rising cost of oil and heat-induced refinery outages as temps across the nation soar to the highest of the summer this week.
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The national average price for a gallon of gasoline could rise five to 10 cents this week, with increases of 10 to 25 cents a gallon in some states, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, tweeted Monday.
Currently, the average price for a gallon of gas is $3.58 for the week ending July 20, three cents higher from the previous week. Still, it is 88 cents less than a year ago, according to the latest report by AAA.
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In an interview with FOX Business, De Haan said both gas and oil have reached their highest price points since April.
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“With extreme heat also leading to some refinery outages, and with July gasoline inventories at their lowest level since 2015, we’re primed to see the cost increases showing up in force this week across the country,” he added. “Already this morning, GasBuddy is seeing large price increases in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Florida.”
Across the country, temperatures are dangerously high, especially in the South and West, and are expected to expand to the East Coast, with more than 250 million people from coast-to-coast seeing above-average heat, Fox Weather reported.
Gas demand also went up last week, rising slightly from 8.76 to 8.86 million barrels a day, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). At the same time, total domestic gasoline stocks decreased from 219.5 to 218.4 million barrels.
Meanwhile, the price of oil is also up, rising around 6.6% the last five days and approximately 13.7% the last month.
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FOX Business writer Javier Simon contributed to this report.