Many gas stations in the Twin Cities, Duluth, and various parts of the state saw a rise of 30 to 40 cents in the price of gas in Minnesota late last week.
The price of gas in Minnesota has seen a steady increase this week, following a notable surge last Thursday and Friday
As more stations followed suit in recent days, the average price of gas in Minnesota inched just below $4 per gallon as of Tuesday, as reported by AAA. This figure price of gas in Minnesota stands over 16 cents higher than the national average. According to Patrick De Haan, a petroleum analyst from GasBuddy, this marks the largest margin between the price of gas in Minnesota’s average and the national average since 2013.
The situation isn’t unique to Minnesota
AAA noted average gas prices on Tuesday at $4.03 in North Dakota and $3.93 in South Dakota and Iowa. Wisconsin’s statewide average was comparatively lower at $3.62, though prices were notably higher in the western regions. De Haan pointed to a planned outage at Flint Hills Resources in Minnesota, along with unplanned refinery outages in Oklahoma and Indiana, as factors impacting the Midwest.
Regulations allowing for a less expensive winter blend of gasoline, which doesn’t need to guard against evaporation as much as summer blends, will take effect this Saturday. De Haan mentioned that the winter blend gasoline is already in supply and should begin to alleviate the price of gas in Minnesota later this week.
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