Valley has highest gas prices in Ohio, according to AAA

Ed Kruest was surprised by the gas prices he saw on his way home from Missouri.

The 56-year-old Cortland resident saw prices that ranged from $2.73 to $2.99 a gallon last weekend as he traveled through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.

“When we hit Ohio, it went ka-zing,” he said.

That’s his way of describing prices of more than $3 a gallon.

Prices in the Mahoning Valley gained a penny overnight to reach an average of $3.09 Tuesday, the AAA said. That gave this area the highest gas prices in the state.

The AAA reports, meanwhile, that Missouri has the lowest gas prices in the nation. Regular gas in that state had an average price of $2.90 Tuesday, said the AAA, which surveys 60,000 stations nationwide each day.

California had the highest average price at $3.41.

Some areas of Ohio have seen gas prices dip below $3 this week. The AAA said Monday that the average prices in Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus ranged from $2.94 to $2.98.

Prices in all of those areas soared back over $3 by Tuesday, however. The largest jump came in Columbus where the average price jumped 10 cents a gallon overnight to $3.04.