Gas prices surged 30 cents in Dayton area: Will it continue?

Gas prices are expected to cycle, but coul reach $3 by May. MARSHALL GORBY/STAFF

Gas prices are expected to cycle, but coul reach $3 by May. MARSHALL GORBY/STAFF

Dayton-area drivers saw gas prices jump nearly 30 cents this week from $2.33 per gallon to $2.63, and the upward trend isn’t expected to end into the summer.

The average price in the Dayton area today is $2.58 a gallon, according to GasBuddy.com.

The cost at the pump has been relatively low this year, bottoming out at an average $1.87 in Dayton around the new year. Nationally, prices have been higher than Dayton’s, bottoming close to $2.25 on Jan. 1, according to GasBuddy data.

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But as summer approaches, GasBuddy analyst Patrick DeHann says prices will continue to push higher in the Miami Valley.

Costs at the pump may lower through the weekend, but every five to 10 days, area motorists can expect to see gas prices hike again, DeHaan said

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“It’s something we call price cycling. Each time we get a price hike it’ll likely be 5 to 10 cents per gallon higher than the last one, or perhaps the same, but this will continue until May sometime, I’d estimate,” he said.

The hikes could bring Dayton’s average gas price above $3 per gallon until the price slowly begins to fall in June to remain in the upper $2’s for most of the summer, DeHaan said.

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