Gas prices spiking in Ohio as summer road trip season begins

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio motorists surely have noticed that the cheap gas prices from earlier this year are now but a distant memory.

Pump prices are on the rise, thanks to a confluence of factors that include refinery issues, pipeline delivery disruptions and higher crude-oil prices, according to the auto club AAA.

As a result, average gas prices could end up hovering around that $2.77 average that Ohioans saw in June 2015. Stations in some Ohio cities are already getting there. That wouldn’t be so bad except motorists were spoiled by almost shockingly low pump prices in the late winter and early spring.

The price per gallon of regular in Ohio was about $2.68 in today’s survey from AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and WEX Inc. That was up 18 cents from a week ago, and 43 cents more than a month ago.

The Ohio price was 30 cents more than the $2.38 national average today. The average around the country has creeped up only a few pennies in the past week.