STATEWIDE–Gas prices have been on the rise lately. That’s being caused by several factors.

“Not only are oil prices up, but the bulk of the nation is starting the multi-month transition to summer gasoline, further adding to the rise at the pump. In addition, cold weather in Texas last week caused some power outages at major refineries, further weighing on markets. I see no other potentials in the short term but additional price increases unless Russia does an about-face on Ukraine. Even then, we’ll still see seasonality push prices up, so motorists should be ready to dig deeper,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.

Russia has been withdrawing some of its forces from the Ukrainian border, but Ukraine remains skeptical that this is a full de-escelation. In another development likely to ramp up the tension, the Russian parliament has voted to ask Russia President Vladimir Putin to recognize two self-declared republics in eastern Ukraine as independent. Russia has granted citizenship to more than 700,000 people in the two regions where an insurgency’s been going on since 2014.

At one point last week, oil prices were at $94 per barrel. As of Tuesday morning, they are $91 per barrel. If the price of oil goes up, then gas prices go up.

“In the past three weeks, there’s been a big oil price spike. The average gasoline price is up 15 cents per gallon. Diesel fuel has gone up 21 cents per gallon in that time,” said Trilby Lundberg, oil and gas analyst with the Lundberg Survey.

Lundberg said demand for gas has also been increasing with the easing of COVID lockdowns across the world. Rising demand for gasoline also leads to higher gas prices.

GasBuddy says the statewide average for gas is $3.35 per gallon. It’s $3.32 in Indianapolis, $3.29 in Fort Wayne, and it’s $3.34 in Evansville.