Why Has Iowa Seen A Massive Increase In Gas Prices?

Just what you'd like to hear as we enter into the final month of the summer. As you are preparing to enjoy what's left of the warm weather, you've likely started to notice a pretty big jump at the gas station.

Whether you want to take your boat out for what's left of summer temperatures, take that big end-of-the-season road trip, or simply are traveling to and from work every day, it's going to cost a lot more.

I have a pretty carefree attitude when it comes to the price of gas. There's not a ton I can do about it, so I rarely ever look at what the price of a gallon is. I have to buy it to get to and from work every day, so I usually just fill up, pay, and continue with the rest of my day. Even with my lackadaisical attitude about gas prices, even I will probably notice something different the next time I fill up.

According to CBS2Iowa, that has been a "statewide rise in gasoline prices and Iowans can expect to pay an extra 21.9 (22) cents per gallon." Gas stations are now averaging $3.60 per gallon.

Patrick De Hann is the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy and he spoke to CBS2Iowa about why this is happening. The worst part is he also wanted to prepare drivers for even higher prices fairly soon. He said,

Gas prices suddenly soared over the last week due to heat-related refinery outages that impacted some of the largest refineries in the country, at a time when summer gasoline demand peaks and as gasoline inventories slid to their lowest July level since 2015.

He also added that this rise should start to slow down a little bit but motorists should be ready for another increase as we get closer to hurricane season

As we get ever closer to the peak of hurricane season, any new issues could easily push the national average over $4 per gallon for the first time in 2023.

It's not only regular gas that has seen this increase either. Those who use Diesel will have noticed an increase of 15.5 cents over the past week, according to CBS2Iowa.

At the time of writing, GasBuddy reports that Iowa has the 18th most expensive gas in the United States. The average price of gasoline currently in Iowa is $3.812. Prices are up 20.3 cents from last week's average and are currently up 48.3 cents from last month's average.