PROVIDENCE – Gasoline prices in Rhode Island have risen for the sixth week in a row but haven’t hit $3 a gallon yet, AAA Southern New England reported Monday.
The auto club’s May 10 survey found the average price of self-serve, unleaded regular at Ocean State stations was $2.97 per gallon, up 2 cents from last week.
Crude oil prices jumped as much as 4.5 percent on Monday morning after the 16 euro zone nations agreed to a $962 billion loan program to bolster Greece, Portugal and Spain against market speculators, Bloomberg News reported.
Oil reached $78.51 a barrel in New York Mercantile Exchange trading early Monday in its biggest gain in seven months. Crude had fallen to a 12-week low last week on growing concerns that the European debt crisis could damage the nascent economic recovery.
Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil said Sunday he expects oil prices to return to between $80 and $85 once the crisis in Greece is past. Alergia is the ninth-largest exporter of oil to the United States, according to the Energy Information Administration.
In its survey, AAA found prices in Rhode Island ranging from $2.86 to $3.10 per gallon for unleaded regular. At $2.97, the average price per gallon in Rhode Island is 7 cents higher than the average price nationwide of $2.90.
A year ago, gas prices in Rhode Island stood at $2.23 per gallon as they began climbing following their steep drop from the record highs of the summer of 2008, according to AAA.
Prices also rose in Massachusetts. The AAA survey found the average price of self-serve, unleaded regular was $2.87 per gallon in the Bay State, up 1 cent from last week and 10 cents below Rhode Island’s average.
At stations in Rhode Island this week, the survey found average self-serve prices of $3.10 per gallon for midgrade unleaded, $3.21 for premium unleaded gasoline, and $3.16 for diesel.
For more information, visit AAA.com.
