Gas prices fell slightly nationwide and were mostly flat across Arizona as crude-oil prices sagged, AAA says.
The statewide average gas price was fractionally higher for the week at $4.70 per gallon of regular on Friday, while the national average slipped about 2 cents to $3.63 per gallon.
Tucson's average gas price rose about 2 cents for the week to $4.73 on Friday. The Sierra Vista-Douglas market had the state's cheapest gas at an average $3.96 per gallon, while Scottsdale had the highest average price at $5.12 per gallon.
The more rapid rise in gas prices in Arizona recently is due to a combination of factors including supply-chain issues, refinery outages and a switch to a summer blend, industry analysts say.
The statewide average gas price is nearly 50 cents higher than a month ago, while Tucson's average gas price is up more than 80 cents in a month and more than 40 cents higher than the same time last year, AAA data show.
AAA said recent price surges are due to the high cost of oil, gasolineโs main ingredient, but a recent retreat to the $70-per-barrel range have helped keep gas price increases down.
Though a recent spike in demand would typically push pump prices higher, gas prices will likely fall if oil continues to drop, AAA said.
A key index of underlying inflation that is closely followed by the Federal Reserve remained elevated last month, keeping the Fed on track to raise interest rates next week for the 10th time since March of last year. The index excludes volatile food and energy costs to capture โcoreโ prices. It rose 0.3% from February to March and 4.6% from a year earlier โ still far above the Fedโs 2% target rate. Some Fed officials are concerned that core inflation hasnโt declined much since reaching 4.7% in July. Friday's Commerce Department report showed overall prices ticked up just 0.1% from February to March. That's the smallest monthly rise since last July and down from a 0.3% increase from January to February.
