SC gas prices climb more than 6 cents over past week

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Gas prices in South Carolina rose 6.8 cents last week bringing the state’s average price per gallon up to $3.23, according to GasBuddy’s weekly survey of the state’s gas stations.

The cheapest gas in the state was priced at $2.89 on Sunday while the most expensive was $4.75, a difference of $1.86.

Prices in the Palmetto State are 13.6 lower than a month ago and 32 cents higher than one year ago.

As of Monday morning, the cheapest gas in the Tri-County was at a station in North Charleston selling gas for $2.93 per gallon.

Nationally, the average price per gallon rose 11.1 cents last week, averaging $3.78 per gallon as of Monday morning. The national average is up 0.4 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 59.8 cents higher than one year ago, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million weekly price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.

The national average price for diesel fell 2.9 cents over the last week bringing the national average down to $4.86 per gallon.

“With gas prices continuing to surge on the West Coast and Great Lakes, the national average saw its second straight weekly rise. But at the same time, areas of the Northeast and Gulf Coast have continued to see declines as the nation experiences sharp differences in trends between regions,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said. “Some West Coast states saw prices rise 35 to 55 cents per gallon in the last week as refinery issues continued to impact gasoline supply, which fell to its lowest level in a decade in the region, causing prices to skyrocket. While I’m hopeful there will eventually be relief, prices could go a bit higher before cooling off. In addition, OPEC could decide to cut oil production by a million barrels as the global economy slows down, potentially creating a catalyst that could push gas prices up further.”