The price for a gallon of gas in Greater Peoria is back above $4.20 as volatility in the global oil market continues, stemming from the war with Iran.
The fuel cost tracking website GasBuddy.com on Monday showed an average of $4.29 in Peoria County, and $4.21 across the five-county market to start the final week of July.
That’s an increase of nearly 7 cents from a week ago and more than 90 cents higher than at this time last year, ranking Peoria as the 100th most expensive market out of 456 across the country.
GasBuddy data from more than 150,000 stations nationwide put the U.S. average price at $4.06, a spike of 10.8 cents over the past week.
In the site’s weekly blog post Monday, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan credited “continued escalations between the U.S. and Iran, renewed Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, and fresh Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries” for the ongoing market volatility.
“However, a weekend pullback in hostilities offered some relief, with oil prices opening sharply lower Sunday, suggesting the pace of increases at the pump may moderate in the days ahead,” said De Haan.
“For now, motorists should expect prices to remain elevated, but the intensity of further gains will depend heavily on how the geopolitical situation develops in the coming week.”
Averages in Central Illinois are lower to southeast of Peoria, with Tazewell County at $4.18, McLean County at $4.14 and Logan County at $4.03. The statewide average in Illinois is $4.23, the highest of any contiguous state east of Montana.
