PROVIDENCE – Ocean State gasoline prices dropped one penny after holding steady for two weeks, AAA Southern New England reported Monday.
The auto club’s August 2 survey found the average price of self-serve, regular unleaded gas in Rhode Island to be $2.73 per gallon compared with $2.59 per gallon a year ago.
According to Bloomberg News, crude oil prices jumped to $81 per barrel as equities rallied. This is the first time since May that the price per barrel has risen above $81.
Crude oil for September delivery posted a price of $81.59 a barrel at 11:39 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported. Additionally, oil futures made their largest monthly gain since March, rising 4.4 percent over the course of July.
“Oil is following the S&P 500,” Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist for Deutsche Bank AG, told Bloomberg. “Fundamentals don’t seem to matter. You don’t need to be an oil analyst anymore … just a stock market analyst.”
Gasoline prices in Rhode Island for self-serve, regular unleaded ranged from $2.59 per gallon to $2.90 per gallon, the AAA survey found. The state average is now 1 cent below the national average of $2.74 per gallon.
In Massachusetts, gasoline prices also fell 1 cent, averaging $2.67 per gallon of self-serve, regular unleaded. The average price in the Bay State is 7 cents less than the national average.
AAA also reported average prices in Rhode Island of $2.89 per gallon for midgrade unleaded, $3.01 per gallon of premium unleaded and $2.99 per gallon of diesel.
Additional information is available at www.AAA.com.
