Metro-east drivers get an unpleasant surprise at pump
Metro-east drivers fueling up for the weekend on Friday were met with a price hike at the pump.
Prices at most metro-east locations had jumped more than 20 cents overnight, and in a few cases, 30 cents. In Belleville, stations that had a gallon of gas priced as low as $1.87 on Thursday were charging $2.09 on Friday. A Moto Mart on West Main Street was selling gas for $1.79 Thursday night.
The metro-east price bump runs counter to what is being seen throughout the nation, according to a tweet from GasBuddy.
#FridayFeeling: Short wk coming up & US avg continues to drop (along with the temperature in most places) down to $2.152 currently #cheapgas pic.twitter.com/qBksaDiDxb
— GasBuddy (@GasBuddy) November 18, 2016
Even with the price hike, metro-east prices are still below the state average in Illinois, which is $2.12 per gallon, according to GasBuddy. For someone with a 20-gallon tank, it would cost them about an extra $4 to fill up.
It could be worse. Four years ago, the average gas price in the U.S. was $3.41 a gallon.
News-Democrat
This story was originally published November 18, 2016 at 4:57 PM with the headline "Metro-east drivers get an unpleasant surprise at pump."