Higher oil prices pushed up Chattanooga gas prices last week for the first time in nearly a month last week, but prices at the pump in metro Chattanooga remain 34 cents per gallon below the national average, according to service station surveys by the online news service GasBuddy.com.
Gas prices were even cheaper in Cleveland, Tenn., which boasted the fourth lowest price of any metro market in America.
On Sunday, the average price of gas in Cleveland was $1.98 per gallon, virtually unchanged from the previous week.
The average retail price of regular gas in Chattanooga rose 1.6 cents per gallon last week to $2.01 per gallon.
This compares with the national average that increased 2.1 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.35 per gallon.
Chattanooga is the 18th lowest priced market among all U.S. metropolitan cities surveyed by GasBuddy.com
"Due to a $3 per barrel surge in crude oil prices in the last week, gasoline prices have been moving higher across a good portion of the U.S.," Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com, said in a statement today. "Optimism surrounding a likely deal to renew OPEC's production cuts is pushing oil prices higher, but also the possibility that non-OPEC countries may join in has led to a dramatic turnaround in oil prices recently, with WTI (West Texas Intermediary) crude oil climbing back over $50 per barrel for the first time since late April."
Despite the higher prices in the past week, gas prices in Chattanooga still average 8.7 cents per gallon lower than the same day a year ago and are 11.7 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. Chattanooga gas prices also are 6 cents a gallon below the statewide average in Tennessee.
Gas today in the Chattanooga area is priced cheapest at the Circle K service station on Signal Mountain Road, which is selling gas today $1.78 per gallon.