Gas prices break Christmas Day record despite recent decreases
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The price travelers paid at the pump on Christmas Day across the country set a new record high, according to GasBuddy data.
The average on Christmas was $3.264 per gallon, a fraction of a penny higher than Christmas Day 2013, when the national average was $3.262 per gallon.
“Nearly every state saw average gasoline prices decline last week as millions of Americans took to the road for holiday travel, with the national average now nearly 20 cents per gallon lower than in early November,” Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said in a news release. “While the fall in prices is welcomed, we set an ugly new record for the holiday — it was the most expensive Christmas Day we’ve ever seen by two tenths of a penny.”
DeHaan said gas prices should continue to fall in most areas of the country in the coming weeks.
“However, gas prices are likely to jump in the Great Lakes due to a behavior called price cycling, caused by a rise in the wholesale price of gasoline against a backdrop of prices in the region that have now fallen under replacement cost,” he said. “This will trigger a likely jump in gas prices in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky very soon.”
Rockford prices
In Rockford, gas prices fell 1.4 cents per gallon over the past week to an average of $3.21 per gallon, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 139 stations in the city.
Gasoline is nearly 21 cents per gallon lower than a month ago but 90 cents per gallon higher than this time a year ago.
The national average cost of a gallon of gas is $3.25, about 4 cents lower than the previous week and 14 cents less than this time a month ago.
Historic gas prices | Dec. 27
Year | Rockford average | national average
2020: $2.31 | $2.25
2019: $2.55 | $2.57
2018: $2.11 | $2.29
2017: $2.50 | $2.46
2016: $2.40 | $2.29
2015: $1.93 | $2.00
2014: $2.30 | $2.29
2013: $3.29 | $3.27
2012: $3.21 | $3.26
2011: $3.29 | $3.23
Source: GasBuddy
