Experts say demand in Michigan remains high even as supply for gasoline has been tight for a variety of reasons. That means paying more at the pump.
Gas prices rose more in Michigan than any other state in the country in the past week, AAA reports, inflating Michigan’s pump prices to some of the highest in the country. Michigan gas prices rose 45 cents in the past week, according to AAA, making the price in the state the 10th highest in the country, just behind Washington, D.C. The average price for a gallon of gas reported Monday was $5.057, well above the national average of $4.865 and higher than almost any other Midwestern state other than Illinois. The lowest prices are in the South, AAA found, with gas being nearly a dollar cheaper in Georgia at $4.292 Monday. Prices remain highest on the West Coast, where California leads the country with an average price of $6.341. More: Gas prices today and where to find the cheapest gas across Metro Detroit
There are a lot of factors contributing to why gas prices across the country are so high, experts say — global crude prices are up, summer gasoline blends are typically more expensive than winter blends and more. But pinpointing why Michigan specifically is so high is a little more difficult.
“I’ll be upfront: It’s a confusing development”, Daniil Manaenkov, economic forecaster at the University of Michigan, said Monday. Here’s why: The data that most people who study gas prices use comes from the U.
