Year kicks off with higher pump prices

Published 3:00 am Monday, January 1, 2018

VALDOSTA — 2018 is kicking off with climbing gas prices in Valdosta, according to statistics.

The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the city Sunday was $2.31, two cents higher than a week earlier, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

The lowest price in the city reported Sunday was $2.23 per gallon at a U.S. 84 retailer, while the highest reported was $2.24 a gallon at multiple locations, according to the price tracking website gasbuddy.com. Not all retailers’ prices are reported to gasbuddy, which depends on volunteer reporters.

Nationally, the average price of gasoline Sunday was $2.49 a gallon, up from $2.44 the previous Sunday, while Georgia’s average of $2.35 was eight cents higher over the same period, according to the auto club.

In Friday’s year-end market action, oil and gas futures finished broadly higher. Benchmark U.S. crude added 58 cents, or 1 percent, to settle at $60.42 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That’s the highest closing price of the year and the first time U.S. crude has finished above $60 a barrel since June 2015.

Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, gained 71 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $66.87 per barrel in London. The price of natural gas continued to rise in response to the harsh winter weather gripping a large swath of the U.S. It gained 4 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $2.95 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.