Easter Week Brings Another Jump at the Pump for Montana

Montana’s gas prices keep rising even though most of the rest of the country is seeing prices drop. Petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan says rapid swings in the price of oil are making prices everywhere hard to predict.

"So far, prices have continued to inch up across Montana," DeHaan said. "Prices gaining a subtle two cents a gallon, nationally prices are moving in the opposite direction, down about three cents a gallon. We're seeing a little bit of everything across the country, prices moving up, down, left, right... certainly a wide discrepancy."

Despite the fluctuation, Montana gas prices are rising much more slowly than they did last year.

"It's been an interesting year. So far the trend this year, has been toward a relatively subtle increase. Usually the prices pack on 40 or 50 cents a gallon, but looking at Missoula prices have only packed on 30 cents a gallon," DeHaan said. "It looks like we may be getting close to seeing Montana's average price peak."

Right now, prices in Montana are about ten cents higher than they were last month, and nearly a dollar cheaper than last year.