(The Center Square) – Gas prices are slowly rising across Tennessee but still are not nearing prices from a year ago.
Gas cost an average $3.32 per gallon Tuesday, up 5 cents from a day before, up 17 cents from a week ago and up 21 cents from the $3.11 average a month ago. Tennessee’s average is below the $3.68 national average.
Patrick DeHaan of Gas Buddy said a 5.3-cent jump in the national average based on his company’s data was the largest single-day rise since Dec. 28, 2022, when cold temperatures led to a price spike.
He noted that West Memphis, Arkansas, saw the largest jump in the country over the past week with a 25-cent jump. He attributed those jumps to “oil prices and heat-related outages at refineries.”
One thing that hasn’t risen, according to AAA, is demand.
“Gas demand barely budged from last week, yet compared to this time in 2022, it is higher nationwide except for the Gulf Coast, Texas, and New Mexico,“ Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson, said on June 20. “Some industry experts speculate that scorching temps in that region are keeping people off the road.”
The highest average price in the state is in Nashville at $3.45 while Knoxville ($3.20), Morristown ($3.21) and Kingsport-Bristol ($3.23) had some of the lowest averages.
