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Metro
Detroit
Drivers
Face $60
Fill-Ups
as Gas
Averages
Top $4
Charles
Mosley -
Business/Money
Tell Us
Detroit
News
Bureau
Gas
prices
across
southeast
Michigan
have
surged
to their
highest
levels
in more
than two
years,
squeezing
drivers
just as
spring
travel
ramps up
and
tensions
in the
Middle
East
roil
global
oil
markets.
According
to data
from AAA
and
GasBuddy,
Michigan’s
average
price
for
regular
unleaded
has
climbed
to
roughly
$4 a
gallon,
up more
than a
dollar
from
just a
month
ago and
the
highest
statewide
level
since
the
summer
of 2023.
The
statewide
average
recently
hit
about
$4.01
per
gallon,
with
prices
jumping
by
several
dimes in
a matter
of days,
while
metro
Detroit
drivers
are
paying
just
under
that
mark at
the
pump.
In the
Detroit
area,
average
prices
have
spiked
by about
30 cents
in the
past
week
alone,
now
hovering
around
$3.90 to
$3.93
per
gallon,
nearly a
dollar
more
than a
month
ago and
more
than 70
cents
higher
than
this
time
last
year.
The jump
means
many
southeast
Michigan
motorists
are
spending
close to
$60 to
fill a
typical
15-gallon
tank,
several
dollars
more
than
they
paid
during
last
year’s
late-summer
high.
Analysts
link the
surge to
a sharp
run-up
in crude
oil
prices,
with
benchmark
oil
trading
near
$100 a
barrel
as the
war with
Iran
disrupts
key
shipping
lanes
like the
Strait
of
Hormuz
and
raises
concerns
about
long-term
damage
to
energy
infrastructure.
Even as
U.S.
gasoline
demand
has
softened
and
production
has
increased,
Michigan
pump
prices
have
skyrocketed
in
recent
weeks,
reflecting
global
supply
risks
rather
than
local
consumption
patterns.
Industry
experts
warn
that
prices
could
climb
further
into the
spring
as
refineries
switch
to more
expensive
summer
blends
and
travel
picks
up, with
some
forecasting
that
national
averages
may
reach or
exceed
$4 a
gallon
for the
first
time
since
2022.
For
southeast
Michigan
families
and
small
businesses
already
facing
higher
costs
for food
and
housing,
the
renewed
pain at
the pump
threatens
to
ripple
through
the
broader
regional
economy,
increasing
shipping
costs
and
adding
pressure
to
household
budgets.
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