During a week when students are back in class, and gasoline demand — and prices — usually drop, Cincinnati and Southwest Ohio prices are instead spiking to their highest level of 2025.
Gas stations across the area raised their price to $3.49 a gallon over the weekend. At many stations, it is a 30 to 40 cent jump since Friday.
Stations in Northern Kentucky, where fuel tends to be cheaper, also raised prices to $3.29 and $3.39.
Why the sudden increase? It may seem like a pre-emptive spike for Labor Day weekend, when traffic surges, and prices typically go up. However, this increase happened a week early, long before the start of holiday travel.
We checked with Gas Buddy, which says Ohio prices are now averaging $3.37 a gallon, which is 22 cents higher than one month ago.
But Gas Buddy says this is unrelated to the holiday. Rather it blames the unexpected shutdown of a major northern Indiana refinery due to severe storms.
The BP refinery in Whiting, Ind., is one of the largest refineries in the entire midwest.
That in turn has sent prices spiking in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan — as well as metro Chicago.
The Indiana Economic Digest says until the refinery is back online, prices will remain high. Recovery from the heavy flooding could take a week or longer.
Crude oil prices have remained steady in the $60 range in recent weeks, so oil is not a factor right now.
But this comes at a bad time, with Labor Day weekend approaching.
You can check out the latest Cincinnati gas prices on WCPO.com's interactive gas price map.
As always, don't waste your money.
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