Alaska’s gas prices today, at $3.97, are less that one year ago, at $4.02, however have been steadily climbing since February.
Senior Petroleum Analyst Gregg Laskoski of gasbuddy.com spoke with us about national trends.
Laskoski: “You’ll see that Alaska’s gas prices follow very closely to the national average, so the seasonality, the things that drive prices higher in the lower 48, these are the same problems that influence Alaska fuel prices.”
Laskoski said that prices usually go up in the first two quarters of the year due to a government regulation for summer blend gasoline that must be sold across the country and is more expensive due to particular additives but burns cleaner.
We asked Laskoski if it burns cleaner, why not use it year round?
Laskoski: That’s a very logical question and a number of people have asked that question, we’ve never gotten an answer from the federal government on that, it would make perfect sense that if the summer blend gas is better and keeps the air cleaner why not use it 12 months out of the year instead of just six.”