Gas prices across the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky region spiked to $4.59 per gallon on Wednesday, Sept. 16, the highest pump prices drivers have seen since May.
Florence and Boone County commuters are feeling the hit. AAA data shows the regional average is more than $1 per gallon above last year, when gas cost about $3.19, according to WCPO.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported the average across five Ohio counties in the Greater Cincinnati area jumped 18 cents overnight to $4.50 on Thursday, Sept. 17. That puts the region about 59 cents below the all-time recorded average of $5.09, set in June 2022.
What's driving the surge
A weekend attack shut down Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline. Ukrainian strikes knocked two Russian refineries offline. Those disruptions, combined with the Iran war that began in February and hostilities in the Red Sea, sent crude oil prices climbing on multiple fronts, according to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, in a Sept. 16 analysis.
Diesel is climbing faster. Nationally, diesel fuel hit a record $6.39 per gallon on Sept. 17, Cleveland.com reported. That matters in Boone County, where logistics and distribution employers depend on diesel to move goods through the CVG corridor.
Janet Harrah, an economist at Northern Kentucky University's Haile College of Business, told WCPO that roughly half of what drivers pay at the pump reflects crude oil costs. The rest covers moving that oil from refinery to station.
"When gasoline prices rise, it's kind of a double whammy," Harrah told WCPO on Sept. 16. "The crude oil costs more, and it costs more to move that crude oil to the refinery, and then it costs more to move it from the refinery to the pump."
Harrah told Fox 19 the same day that stations use "spot pricing," setting rates daily based on futures market projections. That explains how a station's price can leap from $4.09 to $4.59 in a single day.
Saving at the pump
Kroger Plus Card holders earn 1 fuel point per $1 spent on groceries. Every 100 points knocks 10 cents off per gallon, up to $1 off per gallon, according to WCPO. Speedway offers 25 cents off per gallon for new customers who text "SAVE" to 96001, good for the first three fill-ups. The Speedway app also lets drivers lock in a low price for up to four days.
United Dairy Farmers (UDF) ran a flash sale on Sept. 17, cutting pump prices by 40 cents per gallon between 3 and 7 p.m.
Harrah cautioned that loyalty programs are built to bring customers back into the store. Selling gas is secondary. She advised drivers to use apps like GasBuddy to find the cheapest station along their regular route rather than driving out of the way for a few cents' savings.
GasBuddy says the switch to cheaper winter-blend gasoline could eventually knock prices down about 20 cents per gallon. No date for that transition has been announced.
