We're not the highest, but we're close

As of June 28, Washington state has the highest gas prices in the U.S. with an average price of regular gas running at $4.987 per gallon, mid-grade at $5.191 and premium at $5.399. The two next costliest states to buy gas are Hawaii and California where prices run 19-25¢ per gallon cheaper than Washington’s. These figures are calculated daily by the AAA and can, and do change on a daily basis.

Locally, the cheapest place to gas up is at Costco where gas is costing $4.49 per gallon for regular and $4.89 for premium. If you’re a Costco member, that’s even cheaper than at the Lummi Nation’s fuel stop where prices are running $4.55 for regular and $5.05 for premium.

In Blaine, gas prices ranged from $4.879 for regular at Speedway to $4.999 at the D Street Chevron (not all gas stations are listed on the Gas Buddy), the user-reported source for local prices. Premium ranged from $5.279 at Speedway to $5.799 at the Chevron on Peace Portal Drive. The D Street Exxon fell between the two outliers.

How do these prices compare with what it costs to gas up in Point Roberts? The average price for regular gas here is running $5.17 for regular, $5.07 for mid-grade and $5.98 for premium. The price ranges from a low of $4.80 at Speedway to $5.33 at Chevron for regular, mid-grade from $5.44 at Point Pantry to $5.71 at Chevron, premium from $5.71 at Can Am and Point Pantry to $6.31 at Speedway.

Hard to believe, prices in Whatcom County are lower than most other counties in the state as a look at the graphic shows. As for the difference in prices between here and the rest of the county, local gas station owners have in the past attributed that to the extra distance the fuel trucks have to travel.

At least we have better prices than our neighbors to the north. According to the CAA, the average price in Vancouver for regular gas is $5.85 US.

According to AAA Washington’s public affairs manager Mellani McAleenan, there are a number of factors explaining why our state prices are so high. One is geography. States east of the Rockies have supply lines running every which way. In Washington, supply lines are constricted to north-south directions. Two, supply and demand. More people are traveling now that summer is here. That coincides with the maintenance closure of British Petroleum’s Olympic Pipeline which transports gas, diesel and jet fuel from Blaine to Portland, Oregon. Finally, Washington has the third highest gas tax in America at 49¢ per gallon.

So, congratulations Point Roberts! You lucky sods are paying less for gas than most places in Washington state. Course it would be nice to be buying gas in Mississippi where regular gas is going for $2.978.