INDIANAPOLIS – You may have noticed gas prices have been slowly creeping up over the past few weeks and experts say it may be a while before we see that change, especially in Indiana.
According to GasBuddy fuel prices have been rising faster in the Great Lakes region than any other part of the country.
Indiana currently has the sixth highest gas price average in the country at $2.75 per gallon.
Highest Gas Prices in U.S.
- Hawaii: 3.411
- California: 3.155
- Alaska: 3.133
- Washington: 2.890
- Nevada: 2.784
- Indiana: 2.752
- Oregon: 2.729
- Connecticut: 2.709
- Pennsylvania: 2.707
- Michigan: 2.675
Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, says Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Illinois may soon see gas prices rise to their highest since 2015 due to several different issues including refinery maintenance, a major pipeline outage and low gasoline inventories.
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“Part of the blame could even be placed on long-gone Hurricane Harvey, as some refiners pushed back maintenance to cover production losses from the affected area,” DeHaan’s blog on GasBuddy said. “Now with Harvey gone, that pushed-back maintenance is colliding with other planned maintenance leading to a condensed maintenance season.”
The Explorer Pipeline, which has a capacity of up to 700,000 gallons per day, also sustained a leak last week which has interrupted the ability for relief supplies to be sent from the Gulf Coast.
“All of these issues have pushed gasoline inventories to their lowest levels in more than two years,” said DeHaan.
GasBuddy estimates gas prices in the next few weeks could rise to $2.99 in Michigan, $2.95 in Indiana and $2.89 in Ohio and Kentucky before they start to go back down.
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“Relief will come eventually,” said DeHaan. “Once the Explorer Pipeline is repaired which is expected to be fixed within days. Even then, it will take days for gasoline flows to return to normal. The problem of refinery maintenance will still linger.”
Recent Indiana Gas Price History
Indiana gas prices have been all over the charts in the past few years.
The highest recorded average price for Indiana since 2008 was $4.25 in May 2011.
Last year saw some of our lowest gas prices in the past decade with gas prices barely rising to the $2.00 mark throughout the first half of 2016. The lowest average fuel price in the state since 2008 was recorded at $1.41 in February of that year.
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As the map below shows, central Indiana seems to be getting hit the worst, with gas prices rising highest in the areas surrounding Indianapolis.
It's a trend experts say Hoosiers should expect to continue for the next couple weeks.
DeHaan says gas prices should come back down by Thanksgiving and Christmas, but likely won't dip below $2 anytime in the foreseeable future.
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