PROVIDENCE – Gasoline prices have increased for the second week in a row, with the cost of a gallon 6 cents higher in Rhode Island, AAA Southern New England reported today, as oil prices traded at about $70 a barrel on world markets.
The auto club’s Aug. 11 survey found the average price of self-serve, unleaded regular at Ocean State stations was $2.65 per gallon. That was 8 cents above the average two weeks ago and followed a 15 cent decline over the preceding five weeks. The price has increased 99 cents since the start of the year.
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The survey results come as crude oil continued to trade at about $70 a barrel on world markets, Bloomberg News reported. The president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, responsible for 40 percent of global supplies, said last weekend that current prices are “not bad” and are satisfactory for OPEC to continue investing. A rise in the value of the dollar has also kept a lid on oil prices in recent days.
“Oil’s looking a little bit vulnerable to some more downside in the first couple of days this week,” Toby Hassall, a research analyst at Commodity Warrants Australia Pty in Sydney, told Bloomberg.
The dollar’s rally “really undermines a lot of these commodities including oil,” Hassall said, and oil prices are unlikely to go much higher unless the dollar declines.
Gasoline demand in the United States has been weaker than usual this summer, and the nation’s stockpile of gas is 2.9 percent bigger than it was a year ago, according to Bloomberg.
In its survey, AAA found prices in Rhode Island ranging from $2.53 to $2.76 per gallon for unleaded regular. At $2.65, the average price per gallon in Rhode Island is 1 cent higher than the average price nationwide of $2.64.
A year ago, gas prices in Rhode Island had begun their steep descent from recent record highs but still stood at $3.73 per gallon, according to AAA.
In Massachusetts, the survey found the average price of self-serve, unleaded regular was $2.57 per gallon, up six cents from last week but 8 cents below the price in Rhode Island.
At stations in Rhode Island this week, the survey found average self-serve prices of $2.77 per gallon for midgrade unleaded, $2.89 for premium unleaded gasoline, and $2.71 for diesel.
For more information, visit AAA.com.
