“Across the state of Nebraska, we’re an average of 12¢ higher per gallon for gas than we were a week ago,” AAA Public Affairs Specialist Brian Ortner, unfortunately, told KLIN News.
This isn’t new either, gas prices have been on the rise in Nebraska for several weeks now. This trend is reflected nationally, an average of 13¢ higher per gallon than we were a week ago. “And the primary cause appears to be the oil price,” Ortner elucidated.
The AAA spokesman explained that the price per barrel of gas has climbed nearly $4 higher in the past couple days, “hovering near that $80 per barrel price range. If we look where we were a week ago, two weeks ago, we’re that $69-$72 a barrel range. Oil accounts for almost 50% of the cost of a gallon of gas”
However, widening the scope, current gas prices are still substantially cheaper than they were a year ago.
“When you put things in perspective, $80 per barrel today compared to the $120 per barrel last year…a big difference.”
Ortner said they are also keeping an eye on diesel prices that impact Nebraska’s truckers, “Diesel wise. If we look, we’re where we were a week ago. Again, we’re about 9¢ more this week than we were last week. $3.64 is the average across the state for our diesel users. A week ago, we’re at $3.55.”
But again, its better than last year, “They were paying over $5 a gallon last year for diesel at this time…so the relief is there,” he said admitting this may not be the best metric to judge by, but hind sight does suggest this unfortunate price hike could be (and has been) a lot worse.