As the hot and hectic summer continues around the country, gas prices continued on their upward trend as well, with Arizona seeing a four-cent spike in the state's average price per gallon of $3.82.
The national average jumped up by 13 cents, according to Thursday's AAA report. The increase is quite the leap compared to the slow crawl it saw over the past few weeks and could climb even higher as the heat and summer storms add fuel to the fire.
Patrick De Haan, Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy, said on Twitter that the current trajectory of pump prices at the national level could grow to as high as $3.85, possibly even venturing close to $4 if a storm were to set its sights on the Gulf of Mexico.
In their weekly data report, the Energy Information Administration showed an increase in gas demand since last week, from 8.86 million barrels per day to 8.94 million. In turn, gasoline stocks took a small hit, going from 218.4 million barrels of crude oil to 217.6 million.
According to De Haan's breakdown, inventories are down 7.5 million barrels of crude oil than what they were a year ago, around 3.3%, and 7% below this time of year's five-year average.
Wednesday's close to the formal trading session had West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fall by 85 cents, bringing its total to $78.78.
Top 10: Who's paying the most?
The rise around the nation has caused Arizona to seem rather tame compared to other West Coast markets. However, those on the East, such as New York, Connecticut and Maine, have seen steady increases to their tally's as well.
In fact, Arizona is only paying two cents more than those in Pennsylvania and a cent less compared to folks in D.C.
As it stands, South Carolina is paying the least for a gallon of gas throughout the U.S. at approximately $3.48.
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California: $4.93 (+0.04)
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Washington: $4.93 (+0.01)
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Hawaii: $4.69 (+0.01)
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Oregon: $4.59 (+0.01)
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Alaska: $4.31 (+0.01)
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Nevada: $4.24 (+0.02)
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Illinois: $3.95 (+0.12)
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Utah: $3.94 (+0.01)
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Colorado: $3.92 (+0.10)
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Idaho: $3.89
County-by-county breakdown
Big additions were felt all through the Grand Canyon state this week as all but two counties saw their prices increase.
In terms of who gained the most, it's a tie between Greenlee and Pima counties, as each put on an extra 17 cents since the week prior.
Not one county was able to shed any weight, as the only two stagnant entries on this list were in Navajo and Yuma.
As for the leaderboard, here is how it stands:
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Maricopa: $3.92 (+0.01)
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Coconino: $3.88 (+0.01)
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Santa Cruz: $3.88 (+0.05)
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Yavapai: $3.86 (+0.01)
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Pinal: $3.82 (+0.06)
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Mohave: $3.81 (+0.01)
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Apache: $3.78 (+0.02)
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Navajo: $3.75
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Yuma: $3.73
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La Paz: $3.73 (+0.07)
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Pima: $3.62 (+0.17)
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Gila: $3.61 (+0.08)
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Greenlee: $3.50 (+0.17)
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Cochise: $3.49 (+0.04)
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Graham: $3.38 (+0.08)
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why are gas prices going up in Arizona? Here's what to know