By Jessica Mathews/News@whmi.com

By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com



It appears as though the gas price party in Michigan is over and the pain at the pump is slowly returning.

AAA Michigan reports that as of Thursday, the average price for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline was $1.71. Public Relations Program Consultant Adrienne Woodland says that was up eight cents in one day and up 25 cents compared to the same time last week. She says as states are starting to lift restrictions and stay-at-home orders, demand for gasoline has gone up. Woodland says that’s essentially what’s really been pushing gas prices lower and lower for the last couple of weeks. She noted that demand was very low but nationwide; they’re now starting to see an uptick. Woodland tells WHMI it varies from state to state where prices are rising but in Michigan prices are definitely trending upward.

Woodland said this past Monday was really the first time that gas prices increased week-over-week in about nine weeks and that trend has continued this week. About two weeks ago, Woodland noted that the average price for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline hit a low of $1.42 that had not been seen since December of 2002. However she says basically as soon as that happened, prices started to turn and go upward. The average price is already back up to $1.71 a gallon. Woodland says a variety of factors come into play, including the extension of the Governor’s stay at home order, but demand is definitely stating to increase. While prices are going up, she says they’re still well below where they were at this time last year.