Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Gas prices up across the Rocky Mountain region

A gas pump nozzle is seen at a gas station.
Joe Raedle
/
Getty Images
Gasoline prices in the Rocky Mountain region hovered around $3.40 per gallon through January, up about a dollar from the same time last year.

Average gasoline prices in the Rocky Mountain region are the highest they’ve been since 2014, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research director Patrick Barkey said drivers’ return to the streets and highways after the first swell of the pandemic have pushed up gas prices.

He said that’s on top of a number of other factors like low production and less money circulating through the oil and gas industry as a result of changing economics and policy.

“It went up because of the rebound in demand, but it also went up because of the changing climate for oil and gas investment,” he said. “Part of that’s policy, and part of it is economics.”

Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show gasoline prices in the Rocky Mountain region hovered around $3.40 per gallon through January, up about a dollar from the same time last year.

EIA analysts say they expect gasoline prices to drop through the rest of the year as demand flattens out and production increases.

Kayla writes about energy policy, the oil and gas industry and new electricity developments.