Gas is up and staying up: $5 a gallon becoming a common sight in the Valley
Five-dollar-a-gallon gas is becoming a common sight in Maricopa County.
AAA Arizona spokesperson Julian Paredes says the two main factors affecting Arizona’s supply chain are oil refinery maintenance and OPEC’s pull back announcement.
“Memorial Day weekend’s coming up and that’s usually when demand for gas and summer travel goes up. So unfortunately it’s possible these prices might be here to stay for a little bit," Paredes said.
Arizona has some of the highest gas prices in the country right now. The state average is $4.69 and the national average is below that, just over a dollar.
Diesel is cheaper than gas in some places in the Valley
As gas prices continue to rise around the Valley, some may have noticed that diesel, a traditionally more expensive item at the pump, is looking pretty cheap–relatively speaking.
Paredes says it has to do with supply and demand.
“Refineries produce diesel for home heating on top of for vehicles and much of the country actually had a relatively mild winter so there simply wasn’t much demand for that home heating fuel. And now we have an abundant supply of diesel in the country because of that," Paredes said.
Overall, Paredes says despite being cheaper than gas, diesel prices are still high. And keep in mind, diesel may not be right for all vehicles.
