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GREENWICH, Conn.-- Gas prices in Connecticut have always risen faster than the nation's average, and as of Wednesday, the state has the most expensive prices in the continental U.S., AAA spokeswoman Fran Mayko said.
Currently the national average for regular is $3.49 per gallon, which is 33 cents lower than Connecticut's average of $3.82. Wednesday's state average is up 8 cents from a week ago and 16 cents from a month ago, Mayko said. In Greenwich, prices at the pump are running customers around $4.00 a gallon, according to Connecticut Gas Prices.
"I think it's fine, even though it's cheaper where I'm from in Long Island," said Alex Moreno, who was getting gas at the Shell station on W. Putnam Avenue. "I just want to get home, I'm tired."
Moreno said that he stops at the Shell station out of necessity, because it's right down the street from the Mercedes dealership where he works. He fills his Scion tC's tank with premium gas, running him about $100 a week, but he said it's not a big deal to him.
"I got it like that," he said.
Reasons for the spike include tensions in the Middle East, the European economic crisis and rising prices for crude oil.
"Right now it's $80 a barrel for crude oil, and gas prices could possibly be higher around Labor Day," Mayko said.
Despite the rising prices, Mayko said that Connecticut's averages are 22 cents cheaper than they were a year ago this time.
"We're just coming off a steady decrease from the beginning of the summer, which is unusual," she said. "But whatever goes up must come down."
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