Gas prices soaring to $3.69 in Tri-State

CINCINNATI - Did you fill your gas tank in the past two days?  If so, consider yourself very lucky.

Gas prices across the Cincinnati area are now soaring to a February record of $3.69 a gallon at many stations. Several different station groups are participating, from Speedway to BP, Shell and others.

9 News is finding regular for $3.69 at stations from West Chester and Woodlawn, to Monfort Heights, to Newport, Ky, and other communities. 

Second spike in one week

The jump comes less than one week after prices in the Cincinnati area jumped from $3.29, on average, to $3.49. 

At some stations, the spike was even more severe, as prices were as low as $3.11 a week ago, and are now more than 50 cents higher.

Click here to see WCPO's interactive map of the latest gas prices in the region. (For mobile or tablet users go to http://www.wcpo.com/subindex/traffic/gas_prices )

Analysts have been predicting this surge for several weeks. Cincinnati prices have actually been below the national average of $3.53 the past two weeks so this was expected.  But it's still painful.

The reason:  Tensions with Iran, which is already curtailing its exports to Europe in retaliation for economic sanctions.  That has driven the price of crude oil up from a recent $97 a barrel to $106 a barrel, an all-time high for the month of February.

With prices already getting close to $4 a gallon, those predictions of $5 gas by May no longer seem so far fetched.

For money saving gas apps, go to http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/science_tech/money-saving-gas-apps.

As always, don't  waste your money.

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