No Price Break At The Pump For Motorists

AAA says gas prices keep going up in Maryland.

Nottingham, Md (KM) There is no price break at the pump as the cost of filling up continues to increase. AAA Mid-Atlantic says motorists in Maryland are paying an average of $3.10 per gallon for gasoline, which is six-cents more than last week. In Frederick, the price is $3.02 per gallon.

Spokeswoman Ragina Ali says one of the reasons for the jump in gas prices is increased demand. “This last year, most of the country as well as the state was on sort of a lock down so there wasn’t a lot of demand for gasoline. That’s certainly not the case this year,” she says.

Other reasons include high crude oil prices, and declines in gasoline stocks. “We’re hoping that there can be some sort of agreement with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries–or OPEC,” says Ali,” They will need basically follow through with some production increase, and we’ll have to see crude oil prices trend lower.”

In last Friday’s; trading, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $73.95 per barrel, which is $1.88 more  that last Friday’s close. AAA says a weaker dollar helped  push crude oil prices up on Thursday, as the concerns about market demand continued  to grow.

Ali says AAA has Fuel Price Finder on its website that locates the lowest prices in individual communities. (AAA.com/fuelfinder). “You can go to FuelCostCalculator.AAA.com which will help you budget travel expenses if you’re taking a road trip not just in your area but across the state and the county,” she says.

AAA also has TrikTik Moblie at AAA.com/mobile to help plot fuel prices along your travel route.

By Kevin McManus