By John Raffel
Correspondent
MARION – AAA reports gas prices for Osceola County as of March 29 was at $3.456 and was among the highest in the area
Gas prices for other counties were $3.515 for Wexford County, $3.483 for Missaukee County, $3.508 for Clare County, $3.494 for Mecosta County and $3.415 for Gladwin County.
The AAA national averaged was at $3.488 per gallon while the state average was at $3.515 per gallon compared to $3,407 a week ago.
AAA said spring has sprung with gas demand surging last week as motorists took advantage of better driving weather. But fears of a recession caused global oil prices to hover near $70 a barrel, mitigating a rise in gas prices. AAA said the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline drifted lower since last week by three cents to hit $3.43.
“We may be seeing a return to seasonal trends in demand with warmer weather and longer days,” said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson, in a statement, “But waffling oil prices could mitigate any increase at the pump for now.”
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased from 8.59 million to 8.96 million b/d last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks decreased significantly by 6.4 million bbl to 229.6 million bbl last week. Increasing demand amid tighter supply would typically push pump prices higher; however, recent lower oil prices have pushed prices down, AAA said.