Price At The Pump: Fuel Prices Remain High For Much Of The PNW

The past week has been very "interesting" when it comes to oil prices. Patrick DeHaan with Gasbuddy.com says those oil prices were all over the map as January gave way to February.

“In fact, last week, oil touched its highest level since late last summer, reaching about $65 a barrel," DeHaan noted. "That is up close to $8 a barrel from recent lows....But, oil prices now back down, falling nearly 5% this morning, oil back to $62.50 a barrel. Now that still is an increase from last week when oil was at about $60.”

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As of Tuesday morning, both West Texas Crude and Brent Crude were trading higher, around $62 and $66 per barrel respectively.

Will Fuel Prices Start To Move Lower?

DeHaan added fuel prices, especially diesel prices, increased quite a bit over the past week, thanks to the winter storm that socked much of the central, eastern and even southern portion of the country. Now that things are returning more to normal back east, does that mean fuel prices are going to return to normal as well?

“So, if you're filling up with diesel or if you're a home heating oil buyer, you'll likely have to pay more this week," DeHaan said. "The good news is on the gas side of things, gasoline prices in the country did fall briefly late in the week. The national average for gasoline now $3.83, while diesel prices inched up to about $3.54 a gallon.”

Photo: Glenn Vaagen

When it comes to Northwest prices, DeHaan said the Washington gasoline price increased this week to $3.87 a gallon, one of the highest gas prices in the nation. Meanwhile, Oregon’s average is $3.37 a gallon, while filling up in Idaho will cost $2.82 per gallon.