Summer Driving Season off to a Roaring Start; Illinois Gas Prices Jump 10 Cents

CHICAGO, Ill., (June 12, 2023) — Illinois gas prices jumped an average of 10 cents per gallon from last week. Today's state average of $3.98 per gallon. The last time a regular gallon of gas was at this price was on May 25 of this year.

"Summer hasn't officially begun, but the driving season is off to a roaring start," said Molly Hart, spokeswoman for AAA - The Auto Club Group. "The good news for drivers is that oil prices remain low. As long as that's the case, the state average should remain below this year's high of $4.10 per gallon."

On Friday, the U.S. price of oil settled at $70.17 per barrel. That's 2% less than last week and $13.09/b less than this year's high. Oil prices declined last week, despite efforts from OPEC to boost oil prices by extending production cuts that were set to expire this year, and in the case of Saudi Arabia, pledging to cut an additional 1 million barrels per day beginning in July.

National implied gasoline demand figures from the Energy Information Administration measures gasoline demand at more than 9.2 million barrels per day. The weekly total is a little more than 1% over the same time last year. Gasoline demand over the past four weeks averaged 2% stronger than the same time last year.

Click here to view current gasoline price averages

Drivers can find current gas prices using AAA.com/FuelFinder which allows consumers to compare gas prices at retailers by city or zip code.