Following a small brief drop in gas prices due to lowered demand, the price has gone back up with the national average going up by 5 cents compared to last week, according to an American Automobile Association (AAA) news release on Tuesday.

The AAA news release said that this new increase is because of the price of oil going up due to fears of a global economic recession. However, it also said that the messy and short days of the month are keeping people off the road, lowering demand and keeping the rise not as high as possible.

“Gasoline demand is usually lackluster this time of year,” Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson, said. “And it likely won’t start to tick up until spring break draws near. So, the primary factor in this latest increase is the higher cost of oil, which accounts for more than half of what you pay at the pump.”

The release said new information from the Energy Information Administration said gas demand slightly climbed from 7.51 million barrels per day to 7.56 b/d while the total domestic gasoline stock rose by 4.1 million barrels (bbl) to 226.8 million bbl.

“At the close of Friday’s formal trading session, WTI increased by $1.47 to settle at $79.86,” the AAA news release said. “A lower dollar helped to push crude prices higher at the end of last week. Additionally, after China increased quotas for oil purchases this year, the market rallied as a sign that crude oil demand may be more robust than anticipated. For this week, crude prices could continue to rise if the market sees more indications that global oil demand may be boosted alongside prices in 2023.”

AAA said Ohio had the 24th highest gas price of all of the states in the country plus Washington, D.C. The site said Ohio’s average price per gallon was $3.268 as of Tuesday. That is a decrease from one week ago when the price per gallon was $3.274, according to AAA. One month ago, the average price was $2.940.

The lowest area gas prices, according to GasBuddy on Thursday, were:

* Chillicothe — The lowest price was $3.06 at Murphy USA.

* Greenfield — The lowest price was $3.09 at Marathon.

* Hillsboro — The lowest price was $3.05 at multiple places.

* Mount Orab — The lowest price was $3.03 at multiple places.

* Wilmington — The lowest price was $3.15 at multiple places.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.