Hitting the road for July 4? Missouri gas prices are highest they’ve been in years
The average Independence Day gas prices in Missouri will be the most expensive in seven years, according to the AAA Missouri Weekend Gas Watch.
The average price in Missouri is $2.81 for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel, up almost a dollar over this time last year, which saw a decrease in demand due to COVID-19 stay-at-home precautions.
“As hundreds of thousands of Missourians are planning to hit the road in celebration of Independence Day, they are going to fill up with the most expensive July 4th average price for a gallon of regular unleaded since 2014,” said AAA spokesperson Nick Chabarria in a news release.
Missouri drivers continue to pay some of the cheapest gas prices in the U.S., raking 4th lowest in the country, he said.
The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.12, which is 5 cents more compared to this day last week and 94 cents more than the price per gallon at this same time last year, according to AAA Gas Prices.
Demand for gas in the U.S. for the week ending June 25 decreased from the previous week by about 3%. Higher demand numbers are likely, however, heading into the holiday weekend, according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration.
Weekly regional fuel supply numbers increased slightly. Meanwhile, Midwest refinery utilization registered 98.2%, up from 96.6% during the week prior, according to release from AAA. Global market optimism for oil and gas demand also has led to the high pump prices in Missouri.
Of the major metropolitan areas surveyed in Missouri, drivers in Columbia are paying the most on average at $2.89, while drivers in Joplin are paying the least at $2.74 per gallon. In Kansas City, the average price is $2.76, up from $1.95 a year ago.
Meanwhile in Kansas, the average price for gas is $2.88, up from $1.96 a year ago. The average price in Kansas City, Kansas, is $2.86, up from $2.06 a year ago.
A total of 791,516 Missourians are expected to travel during the Independence Day holiday weekend, which runs Thursday through Monday, according to travel forecast data from AAA.
Approximately 740,000 of those travelers will drive to their destinations. That is a 24% jump from last year and a 1% decrease from 2019.
If headed outside of Kansas or Missouri, drivers can expect to see average gas prices of $3.43 in Colorado, $2.96 in Nebraska and Iowa, $3.37 in Illinois, $2.95 in Kentucky, $2.88 in Tennessee, $2.82 in Arkansas and $2.84 in Oklahoma.
