ST. LOUIS — Average gas prices in St. Louis, Missouri and Illinois have all risen since last week.
St. Louis and Illinois saw moderate increases in gas prices at 4.4 cents and 6 cents higher than last week, according to a news release from GasBuddy. This is the second week in a row prices have risen in St. Louis.
Missouri saw a more drastic change with gas prices 9.6 cents higher than the previous week's GasBuddy report.
GasBuddy also reported that the national gas average has risen but is still 13.3 cents lower than the month before.
“For the first time in over a month, the national average price of gasoline has risen. Primarily, this was due to oil prices that had jumped the prior week, pushing up the price that stations pay for fuel and thus causing them to raise prices," Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in the release.
De Haan said the rise has been "quite tame" in some areas, while others have continued to "gently decline."
He added that drivers should be on the lookout for another increase in prices after Emmanuel Macron was reelected as president in the French election, increasing the possibility of stronger sanctions on Russia from the European Union. This would most likely send gas prices up again, he said.
"In addition, U.S. oil inventories continue to decline, putting additional pressure on prices as the nation's SPR continues to drain and Russia's war on Ukraine remains ongoing," De Haan said in the release. "The global imbalance between supply and demand that led to these higher prices continues for the time being."
