As the month of June comes to a close, motorists should be aware that we are approaching one of the highest gas price months out of the year. Senior Petroleum Analyst with GasBuddy.com Patrick DeHaan said to expect July prices to be higher than the yearly average due to several factors including higher demand during summer months and various blends of summer gasoline that cost more to produce.
He shared a few tips to ensure your summer trips don’t cost more than they necessary, “I know a lot of folks out there may be in a hurry to get to their destination but every mile an hour over about 70 miles an hour starts to really hit against your fuel efficiency so generally if you hover close to that speed limit then you’ll do much better. But other than that, certainly shopping around for gas can save quite a bit of money. Even in Indiana we’re seeing an extreme range in price.”
The varying prices across the state have to do with the different types of summer gasoline used by north western cities as opposed to more southern places in the state. DeHaan explained that generally northwestern Indiana is on a formulated summer gasoline whereas the remainder of Indiana uses what is called conventional summer gasoline, “Northwest Indiana has to use that cleaner burning fuel because of the pollution from Chicagoland. So Northwest Indiana, Chicago and even South Wisconsin are in whats called an EPA attainment area. The clean air act requires them to have ultra clean summer gasoline which is noteworthy at the pump. It costs more than that other conventional gasoline that cities use down state.”
It is for this reason that if you’re heading to a southern part of the state you may observe lower gas prices than those around these parts but if you’re heading north you may see a spike. Stay posted about the exact gas prices in your area through GasBuddy.com and take heed of DeHaan’s travel tips to avoid breaking the bank when traveling this upcoming Independence Day weekend.
