Arkansas gas prices continue to climb

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - Arkansas motorists are shelling out 8.1 cents a gallon more this week to fill their rides.

GasBuddy.com reported Monday that the state average is $3.15 per gallon. That’s 9.1 cents more than a month, but 52.4 cents a gallon less than a year ago.

The national average price of regular unleaded rose 8.8 cents a gallon to $3.57.

“The national average price of gasoline has continued its relatively slow climb, with 44 states seeing average gasoline prices climb over the last week,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

He attributed the increase to OPEC’s surprise decision last week to cut oil production.

While he expects the upward trend to continue through spring, once refineries transition to summer gasoline, prices could fall.

“April and May jumps could bring June slumps,” De Haan said.