Iraq Fears Spike Gasoline Prices in Montana

Montana gas prices made a surprising jump this past week and are about to cross a threshold for the year.

"It's been a pretty hefty increase for motorists that have been filling up in the last week," said gasbuddy.com Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan. "average prices in the state of Montana up to about $3.59, that's a hefty 7 cent increase in the last week alone. Prices took a jump up between Tuesday and Wednesday and have been increasing since."

The climbing price is likely due to uncertainty in the international oil market.

"I pin a lot of the reason for the uptick in prices on the big jump we have seen in oil prices and wholesale gasoline prices after we started seeing headlines talking about the situation in Iraq," DeHaan said.

Montana prices are lower than the national average, but DeHaan says that this week will likely see another price increase that could bring the state average higher than last years average price for the first time in 2014.