By Pat Powers (Radio Iowa)
Gasoline prices rose almost 50 cents a gallon in Iowa in the past month, and they’re still climbing.
Brian Ortner, spokesman for AAA Iowa, says prices should start to level off very soon. “We’re at $3.78 a gallon, up 13 cents from a week ago which isn’t the greatest news, but as the weather starts to cool — and that’s a big component of this — hopefully, we’ll see some relief coming,” Ortner says. “As the summer travel season ends, the demand for gasoline will also help with the amount of supply that’s currently available.” A month ago, gas was averaging three-30 a gallon in Iowa.
Ortner says the steamy weather is key in the pump price hike. “A big factor in those prices going up is the extreme heat that we saw last month,” he says. “It played a role in the recent spike in prices because some refineries had to pull back their production. Some of those refineries work in 100-degree weather, but we were seeing temperatures of 103, 110 in the areas where the refineries are.” So far, no tropical storms have hit the oil-producing states of the Gulf Coast region this year.
AAA’s spokesman Gene LaDoucer says international issues are also driving factors in the price increases. “Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to further their production cuts,” LaDoucer says. “That is coupled with extreme heat in the United States, which is resulting in additional maintenance, requirements at refineries and reduced output. Couple that with the extremely high travel volumes this summer.”
Prices vary widely across the state, as Council Bluffs is averaging $3.68 a gallon, while Dubuque is at $3.88. Triple-A says the national average is $3.82.
