Here’s Why You’ll Soon See Gas Prices Increase in Maine, New Hampshire, & Massachusetts

Since the spring of 2020, we have all been riding a painful economic roller coaster.

During the height of the shutdowns, we saw prices dropping nearly across the board.  At one point, gas was as low as it had been since the early 2000s.

In early 2021, we started to see the prices on nearly everything start to rise.

This included gas.

The price of a gallon of regular gasoline peaked in 2022 at just under $4.

Over the last few years, we have seen gas prices slowly drop to more manageable levels.  For example, when I fueled up in Augusta on June 14th, I was only paying $3.11 per gallon.

Now, it looks like the conflict in the Middle East could soon cause the price of gas to begin rising again.

According to an article on the WGME website, we could soon see the price of a gallon of regular gas increase by as much as 25 cents.  Sure, that doesn't seem like much, but when you consider the size of the gas tank on a truck or SUV, it can really add up.

U.S. and international crude oil prices surged by over 8% on Friday afternoon after Iranian ballistic missiles targeted Tel Aviv in a retaliatory strike, raising oil prices to more than $73 and $75 per barrel, respectively.

Fortunately, it does not look like the prices have started to increase at the pump, yet.  The WGME article explains that, on Friday, the national average price of a gallon of regular gas was $3.13.  That is about 33 cents less than it was a year ago.

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According to Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis, the crisis will lead to less petroleum in the global market.

He says:

It’s going to mean less supply in the global market, and that’s why oil prices are jumping noticeably. It’s not necessarily because there has been disruption, it’s now that the risk has dramatically increased that tensions could escalate to a point where oil supplies do become threatened

Hopefully, the situation is quickly resolved and we start to see the region stabilize.