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Las Vegas gasoline prices soar as Memorial Day weekend arrives

Updated May 28, 2021 - 8:56 pm

Memorial Day weekend will probably see a pent-up demand for vacations as 37 million Americans are expected to board a plane or hit the road for travel, according to AAA.

The long weekend is typically the unofficial start to summer, and this year it arrives with many vaccinated Americans eager to hit the road.

U.S. travel this holiday weekend is expected to be up 60 percent from last year, when many were cautious about the COVID-19 pandemic and stayed home. That has led to an increase in gasoline prices, and it’ll be more acute in the Las Vegas Valley than other parts of the country.

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.03 this week. Memorial Day weekend prices have not been this high since 2014, when they averaged $3.65 a gallon.

Currently, the average price of gasoline in Nevada is higher than in other parts of the country. As of Friday, it was $3.62 per gallon, according to AAA Nevada — up from $3.46 a month ago and from $2.43 a year ago.

“Demand is up, and we’re seeing that as America reopens — though maybe not as much demand for gasoline as there is for the Las Vegas buffets right now,” said Patrick De Haan, head petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com.

‘Highest you’ve paid since 2014’

Nevada is among the states paying more for fuel products, De Haan said. Gas prices have been higher on the West Coast because of a tight market.

“Nevada is the third most expensive behind California and Hawaii,” he told the Review-Journal in an interview Friday. “You’re probably in the top 5 or 10 percent of all cities nationwide in terms of highest gas prices.”

It’s costing an average of $4.19 a gallon in California, $3.92 in Hawaii, $3.59 in Nevada and $3.48 in Washington, De Haan said. Nevadans have not seen such prices in years.

“Looking at Las Vegas average prices, now it is at $3.62 a gallon — that’s the highest you’ve paid since 2014,” he said. Gas prices did reach $3.45 in 2019. “It’s not out-of-this-world expensive, but it’s pretty close to 2019 — just a little bit higher.”

AAA Nevada spokesman Sergio Avila said prices will rise through the weekend. He added that there is a silver lining: Gas prices will probably be less expensive on Father’s Day than Memorial Day because of a dip in demand after the three-day weekend.

De Haan expects a similar drop.

Unlikely to hit $4 a gallon

Nationally, De Haan said, he’s expecting a range of $2.75 to $3.25 a gallon for summertime gas prices.

“In Las Vegas, that might be $3.40 to $3.85 a gallon,” he added.

De Haan said gas prices are unlikely to pierce $4 a gallon this summer, though there’s “not going to be a whole lot of breathing room” if there are refinery issues out of California, which supplies a large portion of the fuel products in Nevada.

The vaccine rollout has encouraged a gradual return to normal activities, and a strong labor market is supporting work-related driving, but discretionary driving has room to grow, said Lenny Rodriguez, team lead at S&P Global Platts.

AAA recommends filling up the gas tank before arriving at vacation destinations, because gasoline prices can be higher around popular tourist spots.

Contact Jonathan Ng at jng@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ByJonathanNg on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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