The cost of gas has jumped nearly 80 cents over the past month in Tucson and as of late, some gas stations in the Old Pueblo are running low on supply.
“Gas prices are down in most of the country, and Arizona is kind of an outlier right now,” said John Treanor, spokesperson with AAA.
The national average price per gallon of gas is $3.48, according to AAA. But Arizona’s statewide average of $4.27 is fourth-highest in the nation behind only California, Hawaii and Washington.
Drivers in Tucson can expect to pay an average of $3.97 per gallon almost 50 cents above the national rate.
Treanor explained that the main reason for the jump in prices routine maintenance at gas refineries across the Southwest.
“Whenever they do that, it really affects the production on the refinement of oil and that hurts the supply of oil,” Treanor said. “That means prices typically go up.”
Another factor is playing into the squeeze on supply severe weather in California.
“Arizona gets its gas from two sources,” Treanor said. “It has a pipeline that comes in from California and it gets trucked in from places like New Mexico and Texas.
“When you have refinement issues in New Mexico or Texas straining supply, and you have another strain in California, you could see where really, it’s almost a proverbial rock and a hard place for suppliers.”
Treanor says there is an upside to the current situation.
“The reason you do maintenance now before that summer demand is up is to avoid much bigger issues when more people are filling up and prices going really, really high,” Treanor explained.
Although AAA does not forecast gas prices, it’s expected that prices will start dropping once the refineries are running as usual closer to the summer months.