Gas prices in Southeast Tennessee jumped last week by the biggest amount in months, pushing Chattanooga and Cleveland, Tenn., out of the list of cheapest cities in the country to refuel your car or truck.
Average retail gasoline prices in Chattanooga rose 7.8 cents per gallon in the past week to hit $2 a gallon on Sunday, according to the online fuel price web site GasBuddy, which surveys 170 gas outlets in Chattanooga every day. In neighboring Cleveland, prices jumped by more than 12 cents a gallon to $1.99 for regular gas, GasBuddy.com said.
Although local gas prices remained 27 cents below the U.S. average of $2.27 per gallon, local fuel prices rose much more steeply last week that the average 2.1-cents-per-gallon increase nationwide.
Including the change in gas prices in Chattanooga during the past week, prices Sunday in Chattanooga were 22.3 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago and are 9.3 cents per gallon higher than a month ago.
Some of the higher prices this month in Tennessee is due to the state's higher fuel tax, which added 4 cents a gallon to the price of gas on July 1.
"Over the last week, gasoline prices have risen across a majority of the country, following the price of oil which has been rising as of late," said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com. "OPEC's meeting this week could steal the focus and propel markets higher or lower, depending on the outcome of the meeting. But for now, the most likely outcome would put pressure on oil prices to rise, especially if there's talk of another oil production cut from the cartel. Unfortunately, motorists are likely to see gasoline prices continue to rise in more places than prices fall."