Arkansas gas prices inch up

Arkansas – After weeks of slowly trickling down, gas prices in Arkansas are on the upswing.

According to GasBuddy.com’s daily survey of 1,826 stations, gas prices rose 1.7 cents per gallon in the past week to an average of $1.81.

That is still 5.8 cents a gallon less than Arkansans paid a month ago, and 45.9 cents less than last year at this time.

The national average price of gasoline rose 1.2 cents to an average of $2.12/gallon.

It’s the first time in seven weeks that prices rose.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said the increase was “unsurprising” following the 18 percent jump in crude oil following the recent COVID-19 vaccine news.

“This year has been anything but normal and such news of promising vaccine results will likely rekindle gas prices for a short while,” he said. “We’re likely to see prices inch up slightly again this week as gas stations continue to try to pass along the rise from last week to retail, but ahead of Thanksgiving, prices should be mostly stable.”