PROVIDENCE – Gasoline prices rose a penny in Rhode Island and Massachusetts this week, but prices in both states were lower than the national average for the first time in 10 months, according to the weekly survey by AAA Southern New England.
A gallon of self-serve, unleaded regular gas averaged $3.61 in Rhode Island in the April 14 survey, an increase of 1 cent over the price a week ago. Similarly, in Massachusetts, the average price for self-serve, unleaded regular this week was also 1 cent higher than last week at $3.54 per gallon.
Rhode Island’s average price comes in roughly the same as the average a month ago, while in Massachusetts, local gas prices were 2 cents higher than last month’s. A year ago, the same gas cost $3.61 per gallon in Rhode Island and $3.47 per gallon in Massachusetts.
Self-serve, unleaded regular varied in price from $3.50 to $3.76 across the Ocean State in the survey. The average per-gallon prices for different grades of gas ranged from $3.82 for mid-grade unleaded to $3.92 for premium unleaded to $4.12 for diesel.
Self-serve, unleaded regular ranged in price across Massachusetts from $3.40 to $3.76 per gallon. Mid-grade unleaded averaged $3.72 this week, while premium unleaded cost an average of $3.86 per gallon, and diesel posted an average price of $4.09 per gallon.
The national average price for a gallon of unleaded regular rose 6 cents compared with last week to $3.64, 10 cents higher than the Massachusetts average and 3 cents higher than Rhode Island’s average.
Rebecca Laiho, a spokeswoman for AAA Southern New England, said the April 14 survey marked the first time since June 17, 2013, that Rhode Island’s average gas price fell below the national average.