Gas prices are rising after steady declines, but they’ll still be low

EVERETT — As usual this time of year in the Northwest, gas prices are going up and likely will continue to climb for at least a few months, but they are still well below where they were this time last year.

Gas prices in Washington bottomed out at about $2.12 a gallon earlier this month. On Thursday, they were up to $2.39 across the state and $2.51 in the Seattle market, which includes Everett, according to the website Gasbuddy.com.

The 15-year-old website crowdsources gasoline prices at the pump, relying on millions of users to plug in prices they encounter.

Of course, prices vary from station to station.

A few weeks ago, Donovan Dormaier said he paid $2.06 a gallon in south Everett.

“It’s already up almost a quarter” since then, he said as he filled his sedan at the Arco station at 19th Avenue Southeast and Jordan Road.

Still, at $2.29 a gallon, the station had some of the most affordable gas in the city Thursday, according to GasBuddy.com.

Only the Costco store a couple of blocks down the road had a lower price — $2.26.

The highest gas price in Everett on Thursday was $2.69 at a station on Broadway.

While the prices at the pump have gone up in recent weeks, they are still well below where they were a few months ago.

Last summer, it cost Dormaier more than $45 to fill up his sedan. On Thursday, he paid about $26.

“With my SUV, it went from $80 to fill up to $38, so it’s significant,” the 21-year-old said.

With three young kids, he’s more than happy to have a few more dollars in his wallet. Dormaier just finished an aerospace tooling program at the Washington Aerospace Training Center at Paine Field near Everett and is looking for work.

“Hopefully, they will stay low,” he said.

While gas prices in the state will likely go up, the average price this year should be well below the average for 2014, said Allison Mac, a petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com.

Gas prices in Washington will probably increase another 30 to 40 cents per gallon before peaking in late May or early June, followed by an overall decline, she said.

The average price per gallon for 2015 will probably be about $2.50 a gallon, compared to $3.33 for 2014, she said.

Fuel prices typically increase this time of year.

“We call it the first quarter climb,” Mac said.

Refineries are moving from making winter-grade gas to summer-grade gas, which doesn’t evaporate as easily — making less smog and other emissions, she said. The different blends are federally mandated.

Production temporarily dips as refineries switch from one blend to the other, causing prices to rise, she said.

That price increase continues through the spring because summer-blend gas costs more to make, Mac said.

The rise typically peaks around late May or early June before tapering off.

Fuel prices are affected by many factors, ranging from wars and the global economy to the number and size of refineries in a region, state gas taxes and even how easy it is for drivers to get to a particular gas station, she said.

“People buy gas more based on convenience than on being strictly price shoppers,” Mac said. “That’s why some station owners are willing to take that risk and mark up their price a few cents.”

Rent and overhead costs can also contribute to price variations from one station to the next. Branded gas, such as at Chevron stations, are also more expensive than unbranded fuels.

Gas in the Pacific Northwest tends to cost more because the area is geographically isolated and has only a handful of refineries. A production decline at one refinery can quickly drive pump prices higher because there aren’t enough other plants to make up for the slip, she said.

In the big picture, gas prices have been down for several months because “supply has been super high, and demand has been super low. It’s Economics 101,” Mac said.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecast low gas prices through the rest of 2015.

Production is up in the U.S. and other countries. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries economic bloc has not cut production, and demand is down in Europe and Asia, where economies are weak or growing more slowly than expected.

For Lake Stevens resident Gerry Hall, that means she’s saving about $40 a month at the pumps.

“I wondered where the extra money was coming from,” the 88-year-old said as she fueled her 1998 Nissan Frontier pickup.

Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.

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