Gas prices are going up, but the increase seems to be isolated to the Phoenix area and it may be temporary.
Julian Paredes with AAA Arizona says there are a multitude of factors that could be driving the prices up, though it’s not clear why Phoenix is hard hit.
“But there’s nothing to say that this is going to be long term. Refinery maintenance is temporary and that’s probably the good news. And it’s probably a little more noticeable this time, more than previous years, just because gas prices this whole year have actually been remarkably stable,” he said.
Paredes said the average price of gas in the Phoenix area has increased nearly 20 cents in the last week, with an average of $3.55 a gallon. He said Arizona remains above the national average.
He says the high prices may be because of refinery maintenance, which can affect parts of the state.
“It’s not entirely unexpected. It’s just a part of the seasonality and yeah when one refinery goes out, goes down, it’s going to affect different parts of Arizona very differently,” he said.
Paredes says refinery maintenance happens around this time of year.
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