PEORIA, Ill. – Weeks of gas price declines in the state are officially over.
A week after the price of gas in Illinois was virtually unchanged, both GasBuddy.com and AAA say the average price of a gallon of unleaded in the Peoria area has gone up about 12 cents per gallon. GasBuddy’s local average is at $3.36 a gallon, while Triple A’s is at $3.39.
GasBuddy, however, has quite a spread of gas prices in the area, with the cheapest being $2.85 as of Sunday, and the most expensive at $3.79 — a difference of 94 cents.
Analysts there say the end of the pause on already-scheduled gas tax increases in Illinois likely has a small role to pay in the increase, but of greater concern is refinery closures that had been going since the pre-Christmas winter storm.
“However, I’m optimistic that as refiners get back online, we could see the increases slow down as we head into the time of year when gasoline demand is at its weakest,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
