The average price of gas in the Peoria area is up more than 40 cents a gallon this week, as the war in Iran impacts the global oil market.
The fuel cost-tracking website GasBuddy.com reported an average price of $3.51 in Greater Peoria as of Monday afternoon, a spike of 13 cents in just the past day.
Drivers are now paying almost 26 cents more per gallon than last year, and 56 cents more than in February. The Peoria area’s average is about 3 cents above the national average, and about 3 cents below the statewide average in Illinois.
“In just a week, consumers have seen gasoline prices surge at one of the fastest rates in years after oil prices spiked following U.S. strikes on Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
In his weekly blog on the site Monday, De Haan said attacks across the Middle East over the weekend pushed the price of oil above $100 per barrel for the first time in years.
“As a result, gasoline prices in many states could climb another 20 to 50 cents per gallon this week, with price-cycling markets potentially seeing increases as early as today,” he said.
De Haan says the price for diesel fuel may spike even more sharply, as much as 35 to 75 cents per gallon.
