Gas prices in Ohio and the United States have skyrocketed due to Gulf Coast and Midwest refinery shutdowns from last week’s winter weather, the American Automobile Association (AAA) said in an article posted on its website.
AAA said that Ohio’s gas prices had the largest weekly increase of any state in the country, going up 22 cents. It also said that the national average is up 13 cents as of Feb. 22, which is the most expensive that gas has been since October 2019.
“When close to 40 percent of U.S. crude production is offline because refineries are closed, there is going to be pain at the pump until operations resume,” Jeanette Casselano McGee, AAA spokesperson, said in the article. “The good news is the nearly two dozen impacted refiners are expected to restart operations this week, if they haven’t already. That means regular gasoline deliveries will resume and impacted stations will be re-fueled.”
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the regular Ohio weekly gas price last week on Feb. 15 was $2.415. It had gone up to $2.643 by Tuesday.
GasBuddy, a website that shows the lowest price for gas in specific area, posted the following regular gas prices below that were last updated on Feb. 23.
* Chillicothe — The lowest price was $2.48 at Sam’s Club.
* Greenfield — The lowest price was $2.62 at Clark.
* Hillsboro — The lowest price was $2.64 at multiple places in the city.
* Mount Orab — The lowest price was $2.61 at Murphy USA.
* Wilmington — The lowest price was $2.69 at multiple places.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
