DeKALB – The average price of gas in Illinois on March 22 was $3.03 per gallon, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 4,378 stations in the state. This is a 1.6 cent decrease from last week. Even though prices have gone down, gas is still 26.5 cents per gallon more expensive than a month ago, and 98.2 cents more expensive than a year ago.

The cheapest station in the state was $2.53 per gallon and the most expensive was $3.63 per gallon, a difference of $1.10 cents.

On the national level, the average price of gas was $2.86 per gallon, a decrease of 0.3 cents from last week. The national average is still 22.2 cents higher than a month ago and 78.2 cents higher than a year ago.

“With oil prices finally sagging over the last week on inflation fears and worries about a surge in COVID-19 cases in Europe impacting oil demand, motorists filling their tanks may soon see a brief respite from rising gas prices,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.

De Haan said that last week saw the highest demand for gasoline since the beginning of the pandemic, and prices might rise again due to this.

“While gas prices still rose in a majority of states last week, we may see some price decreases in the week or weeks ahead,” De Haan said. “It will be a bumpy road the next few weeks as markets sort out the bearish and bullish factors, but I still believe prices will likely experience more upward momentum ahead of Memorial Day.”