Gas prices in WA go up for third straight week, reach highest level of 2025
After Washington gas prices fell earlier this spring, they appear to be back on the rise.
The average cost of a gallon of gas hit $4.42 on Thursday, May 29, according to AAA. That’s $0.04 higher than this time last week, and $0.14 higher than the average gas price a month ago.
AAA estimates that Washington’s average gas price is the third-highest in the country, and well above the national average of $3.166. Nationally, gas prices fell by $0.03 this week, according to AAA, and have risen by less than a cent over the past month.
Only Hawai’i and California currently have higher gas prices at $4.48 and $4.81 respectively.
WA gas prices rise for four weeks
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, it’s the third straight week gas prices have risen. The EIA has the average Washington gas price listed at $4.34, up by over $0.07 from the week before and over $0.15 from the week of May 5. The May 26 estimate is the highest so far this year, according to the EIA, exceeding the $4.31 measured the week of April 7.
On the year, prices are up nearly $0.50 from the $3.84 average measured the week of Dec. 30, 2024. However, there have been a few stretches where prices declined. Prices fell for three straight weeks in late February and early March, and again for three weeks in April.
Prices are still lower than the $4.56 measured at this time last year.
Why are WA gas prices rising?
It’s common for gas prices to rise over the first half of the year only to drop during the fall and winter.
According to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, demand for gas tends to increase as the weather warms up, driving the cost of gasoline higher.
“Americans start driving and consuming more gasoline when temperatures start warming up,” De Haan told McClatchy in a phone call in March.
Will gas prices keep going up in WA?
According to De Haan, gas prices also get more expensive over the summer, when the Environmental Protection Agency requires the use of a cleaner but more expensive type of gasoline.
“It’s less volatile. So during the warmer months, when ozone can become challenging, the EPA requires us to use a cleaner version of gasoline, which is more costly,” De Haan said.
De Haan said that its production tends to be more complicated and its components more expensive, leading to an increase in gas prices over the summer.
“Winter gasoline is a bit more simple to produce. It contains more butane. Butane tends to be cheap, whereas summer gasoline contains less cheap butane and more expensive alkali,” De Haan said.
Last year, Washington gas prices peaked in April, according to EIA data, although they remained high through early June before falling steadily over the second half of the year. The year before, gas prices rose throughout the summer, peaking in late September and early October. In 2022, Washington gas prices peaked in late June.