BALTIMORE — With high gas prices continuing to strain budgets across the country, we're taking a closer look at what Maryland's prices look like in comparison to the rest of the country and why the prices are so high.
Based on data from the US Energy Information Administration, our nation-wide average this month, of about $3.429 per gallon, is the highest we've seen since November 2014.
At that point, the US was coming down from several months in an average of around $4+ per gallon.
Ragina Ali is the Public and Government Affairs Manager at AAA and says that the Russia-Ukraine situation is partially to blame for the high prices.
"Now that we are looking at a possible conflict, and possibly an invasion.. of Ukraine, that is certainly continuing to drive up oil prices," she says.
Maryland's state-wide average right now is about $3.582 per gallon - above the nationwide average from EIA and the higher average shared by AAA for today, $3.531.
"So Maryland was actually one of the states that saw a steep increase week over week. The average that Maryland motors are paying today is $3.58 a gallon. That's an eight cent [increase] since last week. Nationally, motorists are paying $3.53 a gallon. And that's a four cent increase compared to this time last week," says Ali.
Breaking it down by county, Western Maryland seems to have the lowest prices across the state and Howard County has the highest prices in the state with an AAA average of $3.623 per gallon.
Dig in to the data here:
And Ali says, we're not likely to see drops in those pump prices soon.
"With all of the factors in play the geopolitical events, the high crude oil prices, increasing demand, unfortunately, we are expecting that we could continue to see prices rise, at least in the immediate future," she says.
