Michigan Memorial Day 2016 Gas Prices Shoot Up: Find Cheap Gas

Gas prices in Michigan have increased by a dime after Gov. Rick Snyder declared a fuel emergency to deal with a possible Memorial Day gas shortage.

The average price in Michigan for regular gasoline Thursday was $2.53 a gallon, compared with $2.43 per gallon Tuesday, when Snyder declared the fuel emergency that relaxed rules on how many hours trucks can drive to expedite fuel deliveries at a time when supplies are short.

Michigan prices were already well above the national average, which sits at $2.31 heading into the Memorial Day travel weekend, when 38 million Americans are expected to travel, according to the auto club AAA.

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Gas prices have been inching up both in Michigan and nationally over the last couple of weeks. In Michigan a week ago, the average price for a gallon of gas was $2.29, compared with a national average of $2.24 .

Prices in Michigan and other Midwest states have gone up because regional gasoline inventories decreased for the 14th consecutive week, AAA said. Fires in the Canadian Oil Sands are affecting the ability of local markets to meet demands, and planned and unplanned refinery maintenance are causing more fluctuations.

In his energy emergency declaration, found in Executive Order 2016-10, Snyder cited both the shutdown of a fuel pipeline in Wisconsin and an unplanned outage of the Marathon refinery Detroit heading into the holiday weekend.

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Michigan isn’t the only state feeling the pinch. AAA said production will also be limited over the next few weeks at BP’s Whiting, IN, plant and the BP-Husky plant in Toledo, OH.

That means prices could remain volatile leading into the summer driving season, AAA said.

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