After armed conflict between the U.S., Israel and Iran began over the weekend, drivers in the Lehigh Valley are already seeing the impact at the gas pump.<\/p>\n
According to GasBuddy, prices in the Lehigh Valley are up more than 13 cents per gallon since last week and about 20 cents over the month, with an average of $3.22 on Wednesday morning. AAA\u2019s average in the Valley was $3.26, an increase of 17 cents over the week and 23 cents from last month.<\/p>\n
GasBuddy, which tracks prices at individual gas stations, reported that prices around Allentown ranged from $2.71 to $3.25 per gallon.<\/p>\n
Nationally, AAA\u2019s national average was $3.19, which is 20 cents more than Monday and 31 cents higher than a month ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cConsumers should prepare in case gasoline prices rise even further,\u201d said Jim Garrity, director of public affairs at AAA East Central. \u201cAt this point, all eyes are on crude oil, which accounts for 50 to 60 cents of each dollar you spend at the pump. Also, demand is increasing and refineries are beginning their annual transition to summer blend gasoline, which are both trends that typically push prices higher in the spring.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said the national average was expected to rise above $3 per gallon, even if the war didn\u2019t come.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in the midst of seasonal changes,\u201d De Haan said. \u201cSummer gasoline is more costly. It\u2019s more expensive. We were all set to rise to $3.10-$3.25 a gallon with a peaceful Persian Gulf. We\u2019ll now get there very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
De Haan said it\u2019s important to keep an eye on the situation, but it isn\u2019t necessarily alarming. He doesn\u2019t expect the national average to reach $4, though that could change if the situation deteriorates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest risk right now is the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d he said, referring to the waterway between Iran and the Arabian peninsula used by many oil tankers. \u201cConfidence is the name of the game. Nobody really has confidence right now to transit through the strait.\u201d<\/p>\n
The market is signaling \u201ccaution\u201d rather than \u201calarm,\u201d De Haan said. \u201cIf the U.S. and other producers can secure the strait and restore transit confidence, oil prices are expected to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
West Texas Intermediate crude prices were down slightly Wednesday morning at $74.01 per barrel after going over $80 earlier in the week.<\/p>\n
Fuel efficiency tips<\/p>\n
AAA East Central said adopting responsible driving practices can contribute to savings at the pump.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the simplest ways to keep your fuel costs lower is to slow down, as speeding drastically decreases how efficiently your vehicle burns fuel,\u201d Garrity said.<\/p>\n
To improve vehicle gas mileage, AAA recommends the following tips:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Drive the speed limit. On the highway, aerodynamic drag causes fuel economy to drop off significantly as speeds increase above 50 mph.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Reduce trips and lighten your load. Limit the amount of cargo in your vehicle when possible. Combine errands and possibly aim to get them all done on one day of the week. Also, consider using the more fuel-efficient vehicle in the household more often.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Avoid \u201cjackrabbit\u201d starts and hard acceleration. These actions greatly increase fuel consumption. Accelerate smoothly with light to moderate throttle. This allows the automatic transmission to upshift into higher gears sooner, reducing engine rpm and saving fuel.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Avoid extended idling to warm up the engine. Even in winter, idling and warming up an engine are unnecessary and waste fuel.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Look ahead. When approaching a red light or stop sign, let off the gas early and allow the vehicle to coast down to a slower speed until it is time to brake.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Use cruise control to help maintain a constant speed and save fuel. However, never use cruise control on wet roads because a loss of vehicle control could result.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Keep tires properly inflated. Underinflated tires reduce fuel economy, but more importantly, tires low on air affect handling and braking, wear more rapidly and can overheat and blowout.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Maintain the vehicle according to the manufacturer\u2019s recommendations. Regular maintenance will ensure optimum fuel economy, performance and longevity.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Make all necessary repairs. Take the vehicle to a trusted repair facility as soon as possible if the \u201cCheck Engine\u201d light comes on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After armed conflict between the U.S., Israel and Iran began over the weekend, drivers in the Lehigh Valley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,60,433,182,139,434,28,432],"class_list":["post-130291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-business","tag-lehigh-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-northampton-county","tag-pennsylvania","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}